The Man Who Cried Saint
by KiShang
Summary: Assault an impenetrable facility. Check. Free two S-class prisoners from jail. Check. Search for a missing teacher. Double check. Starting a guild wasn't exactly as easy as Naruto Uzumaki had first thought it to be.
1. Dare-devil bastards

a/n: Hey, so I was looking around my computer the other day and found this old pilot lying around. Don't blame me for keeping it from you guys for too long – I never would have believed that I would return to publishing here someday. This is my own attempt at a Naruto/Fairy tail crossover, and it would be a **Naruto-characters-in-Earthland** story; because I'm not really a big fan of dimension-travel, and it's all been overdone anyway.

Read and review please. I think you might like this.

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The Man who cried Saint

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_In a land, far, far away, lies Fiore; a small, peaceful nation with a population of seventeen million, and an empire filled with magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in 'almost' every marketplace (for there are some marketplaces that would still only sell vegetables), magic is generally viewed as a tool; a mundane part of everyday life. _

_For some people, however, magic is an art, and they have dedicated their lives to the practice of its profession. These are the wizards. Banded together into magical guilds, they apply their skills in search of fame and fortune. To be honest, a large number of these guilds exist within the country but in... er... many certain cities, lie one certain guild - a guild where a number of legends haven't yet been born from but will soon be in the days to come._

_This guild is called... well, it's not Fairy tail, bitches... the guild's name is... Toadstool._

XXXXXXX

"Do you have any last requests?"

The young man raised his head, a worn look settling within his blue irises.

A rather large number of people were present today - something he should have expected, considering that this was only one of the few public executions to ever happen in the kingdom of Fiore.

Not that he cared, mind you - he'd always suspected that he would end up going out with a bang; but the witnesses… darn! They were just too many! It seemed like the entire city had abandoned their households for the singular purpose of watching him dangle by his entrails.

_Well, he had already come this far; best not to keep them waiting too long. _

Closing his eyes, he shook his shaggy hair out and adopted a grin that would have been sure to make his late teacher proud.

"Last requests? No, really don't think so."

If the chairman of the magic council was disappointed, he didn't show it.

"Prisoner Naruto Uzumaki", he began, "you are hereby to be publicly executed for crimes against humanity, and crimes against the magic council, regarding your role in the escape of two S-class prisoners and your attempted resurrection of the dark wizard Zeref."

At this, an audible gasp arose from the crowd below.

The chairman then added to him in an undertone, "I hope you've made your peace. This won't be easy."

Naruto didn't reply.

"Very well", the chairman backed away, signaling to his chief-of-staff, "Fire the mini-etherion."

As the executioner stepped into position, the chained prisoner attempted a look of bravery on his face. He had already prepared himself mentally for what was to come, however, now that he was here, he couldn't help thinking that maybe the council's decision had just been a teensy little bit overkill this time. Should that blast hit him, there wouldn't even be a body left to bury afterwards.

_Or maybe, that was the whole point?_

Either way, he'd find out now, he thought, watching the golden magic circles of the etherion materialize above his head. The magic energy in the atmosphere rose to a crescendo and before he even had a chance to sufficiently brace himself - or exclaim his catchphrase _'Believe it!'_ - the world was engulfed in white.

His only thought now was that he hoped he wouldn't lose his bowels.

XXXXXXXX

(One week ago. Wisteria Town; somewhere south of Fiore)

"Barkeep!", someone yelled.

"Bar keeper! Where's my beer?", yet another cry went up.

The atmosphere in the room was cozy and the chatter was kept up at a merry pace. It might have only been a little after noon in the day, but the Golden Swan beer house was already teeming with ardent customers. The portly bartender; who would have preferred being referred to as beefy rather than fat, found himself struggling to keep up with the influx, even as he single handedly tried to tend to the needs of all within his bar.

"Give me one more mug of beer, Barkeep-san!"

"We'll have three over here!"

Nonetheless, if he were to be perfectly honest, Inari wouldn't have it any other way. The residents of Wisteria town could be a tad... eccentric sometimes, but it was these eccentricities (like sitting for a beer first thing in the day) that made Wisteria the enjoyable - albeit detached - community it had come to be. The townspeople did know how to rack up a tab, after all.

Returning to his post behind the bar, the bartender took full advantage of the respite a brief lull in activity had given him and began tending to the dirty mugs beneath his work station. Of course, to the portly man, there was nothing more soothing than rubbing a dirty mug clean, and it was made even more so by the fact that it created an avenue for multi-tasking; allowing him to work and listen in on the rumor mill at the same time - not that he'd admit it to anyone if caught in the act, mind you.

The mark of good bartenders everywhere was their ability to always maintain an aloof mien even in the thick of gossip. That way, customers were encouraged to spill secrets out their guts whilst disregarding their presence as they did so. It probably also helped that alcohol had such a wondrous loosening effect on the tongue.

"I heard yesterday about this new guild called Sabretooth", an old lumberjack was belting, "Some are even saying that it might eventually become the strongest in Fiore..."

"But what about Lamia Scale? Isn't that home to Jura of the Iron rock?"

"Yeah, but I also heard that Sabretooth's got two dragon slayers! Two! That's far more than any guild now if I'm counting right."

"There's always _Fairy tail_..."

"Ha, that old guild hasn't been themselves in ages! Last I heard there was even suspicion that they might be forced out of their castle this year, if they still can't keep up the lease!"

Of course, any gossip that went around was almost always stale and empty. Nothing noteworthy ever occurred in Wisteria town and the townspeople had grown accustomed to recycling the same old news pawned off the few merchants who occasionally happened into the region.

"That's it, you pig, get your filthy hands off me!" **SLAP!**

That is, of course, until Naruto Uzumaki stepped into town.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?", a baritone voice roared, "Don't I pay you enough now?"

"_Pay me?!_ Ugh, you bastard!"

Most people pretended to ignore the spectacle happening right outside the bar but it was easy to tell from the silence that had descended over the room that everyone was subtly drinking in the scene.

The girl; who was a plain brunette with (as was typical of most Fiorean women) a rather impressive rack, screeched some more incomprehensible words, prompting Naruto to retort with another tacky comment - earning him one final slap - before he ambled into the bar; a silly grin on his face and a mismatched set of bright handprints adorning both his cheeks.

He stilled when he noticed the silence in the room.

"Anything I can help you guys with?", he grouched, looking dangerous all of a sudden, and like clockwork, the occupants returned to their various drinks, deciding that they were better off not knowing what had triggered this midday episode in the first place. It wasn't like it was the first time, after all.

Most people could still remember Naruto's arrival to town. The fetching, golden-haired youth had simply trudged into the town square one rainy night; delirious with fever, before collapsing face-first on the muddy road right in the middle of the street. His actions had thrown the town into frenzy the next day.

However, it was quickly becoming apparent to the townspeople - after months of accommodating the enigma - that whatever had ailed the blond had probably already vanished, and that Naruto might even be less of a mystery than they'd once made him out to be. For one, he hadn't done anything even remotely magic-like despite his constant declarations of being a mage, and the other; he seemed to be a textbook simpleton, preferring to spend the majority of his time languishing on booze and the odd woman.

So long as he spent the most of his days in the beer houses and far away from their daughters and nieces, they didn't terribly mind him.

"Give me some sake - and not any of that watered down stuff, Inari - give me your best ones", the whiskered man sighed, hopping onto his favorite stool at the bar.

Inari nodded, already used to his customer's antics. He had always made sure to stock up on the expensive rice-based liquor ever since Naruto's first visit to his bar. The blond couldn't tolerate the tasteless (in his words) beer that was a part of Fiorean culture and had not the stomach for the velvety wines, bitter rums or cocktails that also littered the menu. If the barkeep thought it weird, he usually didn't mention it.

"Nice day, Naruto-sama?", he asked, laying the bottle and saucer in front of his client. The print marks still hadn't faded from either of his cheeks.

Naruto grinned, "Getting better! I can't wait to finally find some work around here!"

The barkeep nodded in response, having heard that line only five times yesterday. Naruto never failed to vocally express his desire on finding a job to fill in the bulk of his monotonous days. The only problem, however, was that he never seemed particularly eager on the matter.

"If you wish, Naruto-sama, there might be a few open slots down at the mining docks. I can send a few messages?"

"Is there now?", came the disinterested reply; the blond already pouring his first shot of the liquor, "I might just look into it."

Inari took that to mean that he wouldn't be bothered.

Returning to his work beneath the bar station, he took the time to subtly study the young man before him. The blond still looked exactly like he had the day he first wandered into town. He was wearing the same black T-shirt and orange shorts, with a battered red cloak thrown over - as if he were expecting to leave anytime soon. There was no jewelry on his person except for a single green gem which hung on his neck from a worn rope. There was also something missing from their usual interactions, a suspicion that was assuaged later when the blond conspiratorially leaned towards the barkeep.

"So... er... Nari" - the bartender barely twitched his moustache at the new nickname (Naruto seemed to have a penchant to come up with a new one each visit) - "Have any... er, you know... packages arrived for me, yet? Anything at all?"

And just like the last thirty-three times the youth had asked him that, he replied succinctly, "No, Naruto-sama."

Usually, the young man would just grin at his reply, make a joke and fall back to his drink. This time around though, he seemed immensely troubled, as if there should be no reason whatsoever on earth for the correspondence he was awaiting to not have reached him by now.

Inari didn't pry into the matter as it was his business not to. It wasn't unusual for townsfolk to use his mailbox for personal reasons and if Naruto had expected to be contacted via the Swan bar, the old bartender would just have to curb his curiosity until something eventful finally happened.

**SLAP! **

"_You lecher!_"

Not of that kind though.

XXXXXXXX

Two cloaked figures were perched atop the rooftop, silently observing the last rays of sunlight stream upon the peaceful town below. A soft wind rustled through their brown cloaks giving the picture a rather cinematic effect. It stayed that way for quite a few minutes before the scene would be destroyed by one of the figures scratching the back of its head and letting out an audible yawn.

"So... how the hell do you propose we break the news to him?", he began.

His companion didn't reply.

"Hey... are you even listening?"

When his partner remained mute, the speaker eventually sighed, "It's not that I'm scared or anything, you know, and I don't want to worry you off either. I'm just saying; half the time, boss can be pretty -", he made a swirly motion with his hand, "- intense. I'm not sure he's gonna like the kinda news we have to deliver - who would anyway? But you know boss. With him, it has always been results, results, results..."

"Is that why you had to keep me grounded for over two months; waiting in vain for information that never seemed to come?", a voice shot out of nowhere.

The two figures turned at the same time, a cry of 'Naruto-sama!' escaping their lips.

"So, what's the big deal?", Naruto growled, his blond hair falling into his eyes and an uncharacteristically serious look clouding his roguish features, "Whose dumb idea was it to send me out to the middle of a town-called-nowhere and have me waiting forever for news I never seemed to get?" He waved a fist at the man who had been speaking earlier, "Kyo?"

"It was mine, Naruto-sama", the other advocated, "We were... worried... about you."

"_Worried?_", the blond wrinkled his nose at the woman, "Why?"

"Well, ever since your teacher disappeared", Kyo interjected, counting on his fingertips, "You've been acting even more bipolar than usual. Your formerly non-existent whore-mongering has risen to untamed levels. You drink up a storm. It's been ages since you last took a job, and don't even get me started on the smell..."

The blond sniffed his own armpits, "Hey!"

"What we are saying is that we wanted to make sure you were okay, Naruto-sama", the woman completed, "A two month holiday with proper townsfolk couldn't have hurt."

"... Not to mention we were suspecting that something went seriously wrong with you upstairs during the whole Caelum fias... ow!", Kyo had been interrupted by a swift elbow to the rib from his partner.

Naruto didn't seem impressed.

"Report", he ordered them.

The two glanced at each other.

"Naruto-sama..."

"So, you see, Naruto..."

"Jiraiya-sama..."

"Your teacher..."

The blond looked at them expectantly.

"... We don't exactly know what caused his death."

The air was still for all of two seconds before Naruto exploded with comical fury.

"What?! What do you mean by that? What have you been up to these past few months?!"

"Hey, hold on, boss", Kyo replied placatingly, "I've infiltrated almost every dark guild in existence and I _still_ didn't manage to find anything…"

"... and I hacked into the council's systems", the woman muttered, "They know nothing about it either."

The whiskered man raked a hand through his hair frustratedly and growled beneath his breath. Things weren't going according to plan. Despite a lot of people (namely the toads) advising him to give it up, the blond was still hell-bent on uncovering the reason behind his mentor's sudden disappearance. It was like Jiraiya didn't even exist anymore. His life-force had simply vanished from all of Earthland.

"However, we still managed to uncover some news, Naruto-sama", the woman informed him.

"Yeah, we know what your teacher was up to before his sudden death...", Kyo nodded.

"We've confirmed it - before he disappeared, Jiraiya-sama was investigating the R-system."

Naruto let that little piece of information sink in.

_The R-system_. He'd heard of that somewhere. Something to do with slaves and dark guilds and...

"The resurrection of Zeref?", he asked.

His two acquaintances nodded.

_**Yeah, that's somewhat believable**_, Naruto decided, _**it would take something of that caliber to do someone as great as his sensei in.**_

"What do we know about the R-system?", he asked

The lone female in their midst supplied, "A dark construct created for the purpose of resurrecting the dead. It requires a large amount of energy to activate and a large amount of lacrima to utilize it."

"I see", Naruto responded gravely, "The answer to Jiraiya's disappearance might very well lie within this. Do we know anybody that has ever been linked with this matter?"

The woman looked unsure for a moment before finally speaking, "There is one. Jellal Fernandes."

Immediately, stars popped within Naruto's eyes, "Hey, I know him! He used to be one of the Ten Wizard Saints!"

His two accomplices rolled their eyes.

"So where is he now?", Naruto asked, once he'd calmed down enough.

Kyo shrugged, "Last I heard, he was being held in the council's maximum security prison - you know, the one on _Yoshino Island_."

"Why? Is he a fugitive of some sort?"

"Yes. Two years ago, Jellal tried to resurrect Zeref himself actually."

Naruto frowned, calmly mulling over this piece of information. He loathed black magic and anyone associated with it. He also doubted that whatever Jellal had been up to two years ago could have had any direct connection to his sensei's recent disappearance. However, if nothing else, he could at least gain some useful insight on the R-system and find out what had piqued the interest of the sage. And then, there was always...

"Er... boss, what are you thinking about?", Kyo asked warily, not liking the new expression on the youth's face.

The blond turned his back to them, a lopsided grin curvinh its way across his face.

"Get three tickets ready, Kyo. We leave by train."

"Leave to where?"

Naruto's grin widened. In the light of the setting sun, it looked something terrible.

"Yoshino. I need to have a talk with Jellal."

XXXX

Inari the bartender pretended not to notice the blond as he ambled into his bar later that night. In perfect Naruto form, he had arrived in style; _mistakenly_ groping a woman on the way and getting beat up in the process.

Uzumaki looked exactly like he always had - black shirt, orange shorts, red cloak and trademark clogs - but despite having not packed any luggage, the aged bartender could still perceive what the blond had successfully managed to hide from the rest of town.

"Alright, Ina! Give me -", the bottle was placed in front of the mage before he could even finish his bellow. Grunting in response, the blond sat and poured himself a saucer of his favored drink.

"Here", he whispered, slipping some money to the portly man once he was done with his bottle, "This should cover my tab so far."

"All the best, Naruto-sama", Inari replied, not even bothering to count the money which he expertly slid off the bar top. He could recognize a healthy tip when he saw one, after all.

If Naruto was surprised by Inari's knowledge of his plans to leave, he hid it behind a perfect grin.

"Yep! Wish you the same too, Inari!"

XXXXXXXX

(Yoshino Island; Many kilometers off port Hargeon)

A small bluish frog emerged from the depths of the sea, causing nary a ripple on the surface of the water. It hopped a great deal inland, narrowly avoiding the squads of patrolling knights - and being largely ignored by the endlessly roving searchlights, before it reached its destination; a suitable rock outcrop positioned at the base of a large hill.

It stopped its hopping and croaked twice, seeming for the while like any other typical amphibian before - in an extremely horrid manner - a large hand burst out of its open buccal cavity, grabbing a hold onto the stony ground. The next second, its entire body was thrown open to release the incredible contents of its gut - which were humanoid shapes several times its size.

"Dammit", the first of the three spoke, wiping invisible stomach matter off his cloak, "No matter how many times we've done it, I would never _ever_ get used to that form of travel."

His hooded cloak had been lowered to reveal that he was a young man; tall and wiry, with a shock of unruly black hair and soft brown orbs. He didn't appear distinctive, except maybe for the bandages - which were wound tightly around his upper body, and left only his face, ears and hands exposed.

"I mean, I'm not trying to gross anyone out or anything, you know", he continued, "but it always kinda feels like we'd be digested at any moment, and I'm pretty sure that's not a good sign at any point – at any point at all."

His companion, though sharing his sentiments, sharply rebuked him for his words.

She was a slim woman of average height, with creamy complexion and blond hair that had been cut in the style of a bob. Her blue eyes and facial expression seemed cold, however, situated on her chest were the incredibly massive breasts, which were renowned for the strain they constantly put on her lower back. Even as she strode away from the frog, she couldn't resist making an effort to set her neck, causing her assets to juggle and unconsciously garner the consideration of her male colleagues.

"We're here", Naruto announced, once he had stopped ogling the woman, as if it wasn't obvious enough already.

_Yoshino Island_. The entire land mass was a prison facility built solely for the purpose of containing dark mages... and they had just bypassed its defenses like it was nothing.

"Naruto, where are you going?"

The blond had tucked his arms behind his head and had already begun marching up the hill; towards the summit where the facility itself was located, "Er... what do you mean, Samui-chan? Didn't we come here to speak with Jellal?"

Kyo sniggered, "Yeah, that's _gonna_ work. We'd just waltz up to the warden and demand a meeting with a prisoner on death row. Nothing to it, right?"

Samui glared at the both of them, an action which made them both feel stupid even without the use of words.

"We'd need a plan", she stated, "We don't want to get caught before we even get a chance to speak with the target."

Naruto frowned impatiently, "Yeah, but we can't hang around here too long. A patrol of rune knights could be by any minute."

Samui didn't speak, taking his statement into consideration. Yoshino Island was a flat, desolate, rocky slab of land whose only distinctive landmark was the hill upon which the prison stood. It was easy to realize one thing – expect for conventionally skilled mages like Naruto whose spells were far too un-orthodox to be even remotely considered normal – it would be impossible for anyone to sneak unto the island, much less escape from the prison within, at least, not without raising an alarm.

Feeling a prickling sensation at the back of her neck, she turned to find her companions staring expectantly at her.

"_What?_", she spat coldly.

"Well, duh, the plan, dammit."

"You haven't told us the plan yet, Samui-chan."

The blond woman gaped at them incredulously. _They hadn't even given her one minute!_

"What I'm saying is that it's gonna be a pain attempting to penetrate those walls", Kyo continued, "This is an S-class prison facility for a reason."

"Don't sweat it", Naruto replied, already scaling the rocks, "Buildings like these are made for the purposes of keeping wizards in. They never said anything about keeping them out." He turned to look at his fellow blond, "Are you coming or not, Samui? We can figure something out when we get to the top of this hill."

Eventually, the woman let out a sigh and followed after them; although Naruto could have sworn he heard her grumble something that sounded suspiciously like an insult to their intellects.

Huh. Go figure.

The climb was grueling business and a few times they were almost spotted by the restless searchlights that scanned the entire premises. Nevertheless, they finally made it topside no trouble and it was with a relief that they ended up perching in some brushes just outside of the crest.

The entire time Naruto had been so focused - a solemn look settling over his mien; that Samui had briefly wondered if perhaps the man hadn't been entertaining second thoughts about their endeavor after all. Naruto wasn't exactly one to be called rational (she and Kyo had been witness to his devil-may-cry attitude on more than one occasion) but this... this was on a wholly different level. Should they infiltrate Yoshino and get caught, there would be no take backs. They would become the first ever wizards to attempt a break-in into the Island, and Samui wasn't entirely sure she would fancy the idea of giving up their shadowy dispositions for such a place in the spotlight.

Such were her thoughts when she began reaching a reassuring hand for the man's shoulder only to be stopped by Kyo's near-silent whistle.

"Now, that is one big wall."

Of course, there was also the prison itself, Samui recalled, returning her eyes to their prior objective. The entire building was hidden from sight by a concentric wall of plain, white stone. It had to have been about forty meters high and ten meters across!

"Who are those weirdoes?"

Samui followed Kyo's line of sight to the massive portcullis where a troop of six men stood guard. They weren't dressed like the typical rune knights; their costumes seemingly more befitting of jesters than actual wardens.

"Those are the Prison court mages", she replied frostily, "They serve the council and each of them are probably low S-class level in strength."

There were other guards patrolling atop the walls too; these ones, your run-of-the-mill garrison troops. They didn't seem particularly interested in monitoring the premises; a tell-tale sign of just exactly how sturdy they thought the defenses of Yoshino to be.

"I think I've come up with a plan", Samui began in a rushed whisper, "I can use my psychic magic to..." she felt an odd draft blow her side, "Naruto-sama?"

The blond wasn't next to her anymore.

"You idiot, Naruto!"

XXXX

The prison court mages had been hunched over a fire, enjoying a game of lots, when the alarm sounded, and they heard a shout from one of the knights stationed above them.

"There's someone out there!"

Quickly gathering their magic staves, they fell into formation and watched as a rather unfamiliar man approached. He seemed rather unconcerned with the shrill blare of the alarm or the magic lights now trained on him - despite all the commotion it was causing.

The leader of the Prison court mages; a huge balding man with deep-set eyes and a moustache that extended exaggeratedly towards his ears, stepped forward, leveling his stave at the intruder, "Who the hell are you? Identify yourself!"

Surely, no one in their right senses would even think of breaching Yoshino Island. The impenetrable wall was reinforced against magic, and the court mages were the strongest unit under the magic council! Even the knights atop the prison walls were specialized - each one wielding a unique type of lacrima gun magic commissioned them by the council. There was a reason, after all, why this was the strongest containment facility in all of Fiore.

The intruder; who was a blond man of average height, in a rather unconventional get-up (his clogs certainly didn't make for excellent battle footwear, did they?), didn't even bat an eyelid at the question - rather he stopped short, choosing to adopt a pensive look on his face.

"Don't let me ask again!", the court leader roared, "Who are you? What is your business here? And how the hell did you sneak unto this Island un-noticed?!"

"This wall...", Naruto muttered, placing a finger beneath his chin. It was obvious he would have to find a way to get around it if he needed to speak with Jellal.

"You bastard, don't ignore me!"

"Kyo", Naruto silently ordered.

The black-haired man materialized beside his leader, easily understanding the un-worded command. Forming an open palm with his left hand, he smashed his right fist into it and closed four fingers around the knuckles - leaving only his index pointing to the sky.

"**Mag x100**", he commanded.

A strange looking magic circle appeared beneath Naruto's feet.

"Take him down!", the leader of the court mages ordered his fellows, prepared to fire a potent spell at the blond.

Naruto didn't falter. In one smooth motion, he placed both palms on the ground and whispered; "Summoning magic!", pulling three fine stone statues out of the earth with him. They looked like large, waist-level toads with gaping maws from which ridiculously huge cannons poked out of.

The blond then clasped his palms together - forming a great magic circle - and bellowed, "**Toad magic: Oil flame cannon!**", about the same time the court mages fired their respective spells.

What followed next could be described in three sentences.

A huge supernova of flame and oil erupted from the mouths of Naruto and his toads.

Kyo found himself thrown backwards from the force of the spell.

Finally, the incredible blast surged forward - negating the spells of the enemy - before proceeding to knock the court mages away; taking a huge chunk out of the outer wall with it.

"What the hell?!", cried the rune knights, struggling to retain their balance upon the now treacherous wall, "Who is this guy?!"

"He took out the court mages in one hit!"

Even Samui, all the way from her position in the bushes, could feel the intense heat of the flame. She shook her head exasperatedly.

Naruto, meanwhile, looked on at the spectacle before deflating with a heavy sigh. Turning to Kyo, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Oops. That was a bit over-kill. Think those mages would be alright?"

"You think?", his companion drawled sarcastically, checking his eyebrows to make sure that they were still attached to his face. The ground in front of them had been scorched black, and grey smoke billowed upwards from the sizable hole blown into the portcullis. Already, they could hear the sounds of rune knights from below the hill mobilizing to scour their position. The alarms blared even louder. In a few minutes, they would be surrounded.

"We better get moving", Kyo noted, even as a plethora of magic shots were fired down at them. Naruto nodded and together they sprinted across the hole.

Beyond them; about a hundred meters away from the walls, stood the main facility itself. It was a single jutting tower constructed with fused piers of rock; black and almost lifeless. The numerous windows on the sides of the great stone were hard and void of light, and Kyo felt a shiver run down his spone simply by glancing up at its impressive sixty meter height. At the base of the slim tower was another portcullis; and the piers of stone eventually opened up into two lone pinnacles at the summit. Looking at it now, Kyo could understand why the prison was sometimes simply known as _The Black_.

They had only just reached the areas beyond the tarnished wall when a second barrier sprung up behind them. This one; like the outer wall, surrounded the entire facility concentrically, trapping them within.

"Dammit! Rune magic", Kyo cursed, looking around, "I hate this shit!"

Naruto squinted at the enchantments written on the barrier, "Can you read what it says?"

"Er... All mages who step within this field are trapped... permanently... and would become unable to use magic. At least, that's the short version, I think..."

"_What kind of rules are those?_"

The bandage-ridden man sighed, "You said it yourself, boss. Can't keep mages out but would definitely keep them in. I think we're about to find just how potent these defenses really are."

They were soon surrounded by the garrison troops who flooded out the tower.

"You must have been pretty stupid breaking into Yoshino", one jeered, waving his spear at them, "So what are you going to do now? Within the inner walls, your magic is gone; you're exactly on the same level as the rest of..."

THWACK!

He didn't get to finish his statement for at the same moment, a bone-shattering punch collided with his stomach, embedding him firmly into a distant rock.

Kyo could only stare on in pity. These men had no idea what they were dealing with. Naruto was a monster. No, seriously, he was. Mages like the boss (who would have been S-class had he ever belonged to a guild) were built like tanks. In other words, they could beat the living crap out of you with just their fists, magic ability or no.

"Tell me!", Naruto hollered, pointing a finger at the other shocked guards, "Where can I find the man called Jellal?"

There was silence for all of two minutes before the knights burst into anger.

"Are you serious?! Do you actually think we'd tell you _that_?"

"Like hell, you stupid bastard! Get 'em!"

_**And here we go again**_, Kyo sighed.

Like a well-oiled unit, the two intruders slipped into attack, weaving in and out of the advancing knights. The black-haired man was efficient in his strikes, ruining collar bones, joints and eye-sockets with a fluidity seen only in high-class assassins. There were no wasted movements in his style, and he danced out and under the range of weapons, felling men left and right with simple blows.

Naruto, on the other hand, was a berserker. The blond had never really needed a particular form, what with his large amounts of stamina. Within seconds, he had decimated over half of the opposing forces and the survivors were forced to flee to within the tower, which they proceeded to promptly barricade behind them.

"Call for reinforcements!", the garrison commander shouted, "Inform the Council immediately!"

A few of the men slumped behind the portcullis, taking a much needed rest. However, if they thought the doors could protect them from the monster outside, they were to be gravelly disappointed. The concrete was blown apart by a maddened Naruto, who latched onto the head of their screaming commander and dragged him across the length of the room, slamming him forcefully against the opposite wall.

"The heck! Just tell me where Jellal is!", Naruto yelled at the knights, his voice echoing throughout the floors.

Kyo simply followed subduedly after his leader, glancing warily at the darkness that loomed before them. This was going to be a long night.

XXXXXXXXX

"Captain Lahar! Captain Lahar!"

The be-spectacled man let out a small sigh in irritation as one of those anthropomorphous amphibians - the council's attendants - ran up to him.

"You are being summoned by the magic council, Captain Lahar! Immediately!"

"I know!", the man grit in response, exasperation causing the bangs at the sides of his face to shimmer threateningly. "It is the reason why I am in front of the council chamber right now, isn't it?"

Ignoring the attendant's muttered apologies, he pushed the huge double doors open and stepped into the threshold within… only to be met with the somber faces of the council's mages. Had he not always been so eternally stoic and morally upright, he would have wondered whose grandmother had died.

"Captain Lahar, I trust you are aware of the situation?", Org sat stiffly in his chair, taking charge of the council in lieu of the Chairman's absence.

"I think I might have an idea, sir", he replied truthfully.

"_An idea?_ You think you might have an idea?!", Gronkjaer; one of the newer members of the council, and Lahar's least favorite, bellowed. He was an imposing, gaunt man with graying hair, beard, and a suspicious lack of eyebrows. His knightly attire shone in the gleam of the hall but even more so; his anger, which was evidently apparent on his face.

Lahar remained silent respectfully.

"There has been a commotion at Yoshino", Org continued, and Lahar couldn't help but gasp aloud despite having already heard the news, "Communication reports have it that an unconfirmed man and his cohort have attacked the Island and defeated the court mages."

"Defeated the court mages?", the captain parroted.

Org nodded grimly, "I take it then that you understand the severity of this situation? That you realize just exactly what those walls are to be guarding?"

Lahar paused thoughtfully, diverting his gaze to the chess-patterned floor. No mage; dark or otherwise, would be stupid enough to lay siege on The Black. The worst of scum resided within those walls and it would be a near suicide mission to even try. However, there was one... one criminal who was feared the most amongst all the others. One who had only just been moved there recently…

"Jellal", he whispered.

"They must be destroyed at once!", another councilor - a wild, one-eyed man this time - piped up, "We cannot allow them to run the risk of setting that man free!"

"But surely, there is to be no escape from Yoshino", yet another spoke, "Those runes must be a hundred years old -"

"Fools!", Gronkjaer bellowed again, "Accursed wrong-doers! Anyone who tries to usurp the council and go against its principles must only be in possession of a death wish! They would be punished immensely!"

"Lahar", Org spoke, returning the attention back to young knight who stood ramrod straight in response, "You are to take a fleet and depart via the fastest route for Yoshino at once. We want the culprits apprehended and brought to justice."

"By your wish", he bowed respectfully, wondering if he shouldn't have said anything more - and that was how he found himself on a boat heading for the Island, his garrison left behind him, and his thought projection at Era now dispelled.

He had to admit. Whoever the intruders were, they sure packed a lot of guts. No one had ever made an attempt to breach the Island in the hundred years since its inception, including the worst of dark guilds themselves.

And to think that he'd thought the excitement in the magic world would die with the disappearance of Fairy tail…

"Captain Lahar, we are in sight. Contact should be in approximately fifteen minutes."

"Good. Prepare to engage", he replied, speaking to the soldier who had just approached him. He tightened his grip on the large tome he carried, a grim smile on his face. There would be no holding back. Not today.

The island of Yoshino loomed before him.

XXXXXXXXX

"_Erza..._"

The name was constantly on his lips, a telltale sign of the grief he constantly wallowed in. He could remember most of it now: The pain he had caused her. The tears she had shed. And then, there was her hair too - those long, flowing locks that he himself had aptly named her after.

"Why?", he croaked out to no one in particular. _**Why?**_

Erza was lost, along with Natsu Dragneel and the rest of her Fairy tail guild mates. _Gone_; just like that... before he even had a chance to properly apologize for sins he could now remember.

In a way, he should have known this would happen. Karma had always found a way to play him a bad hand in life despite everything he'd been through. When he was lost without his memories, Erza had been his light in the darkness. He would have ended it all just then, but she had urged him forward. She had convinced him to keep living... and he had done so. Only for his life to be taken away from him again, the moment he had been arrested shortly after.

Even in his small cell, where darkness swallowed him whole, and the days seemed to blend as one; he could still feel her presence – still perceive her unique aura from so many miles away. He had felt fear when she had been on the verge of defeat back then, and he had smiled again the moment she'd prevailed.

And then, she had to be destroyed. The only source of happiness he had ever known to exist.

Erza – gone.

Right after he had made his peace with life and the fate awaiting him.

_Yep_, he had to agree, a hoarse laugh escaping his throat, _Karma was most definitely a bi -_

He felt the small explosion before he even heard it.

Quick as he could manage, he was seated upright, eyes dancing furtively across his dark cell. He was deep down in the dungeons - the areas reserved for solitary confinement - and his guards were nowhere to be seen (probably off to torment another poor soul), but there was no mistaking it. That blast had come from somewhere above. That blast had come from _here_.

The man bit his lip in thought. _Had Ultear and Meredy already come for him?_

Granted, they had concluded to take action sometime in the next week - and Ultear was anything if not meticulous in her deeds - but could something have made them change their plans? _Had they moved up his execution date?_ If so, that would be enough reason to take drastic action without having the opportunity to contact him in hindsight.

Sighing, he took in some air and fought himself to calm. The style was definitely unlike Ultear, whose upbringing had taught her the finer aspects of stealth and subtlety. _Maybe something had simply gone wrong somewhere…? _

Nevertheless, true to his title as a Wizard saint, he remained ready, the muscles in his stomach coiled to spring into action at any moment.

The explosions that followed the first were smaller and fewer in-between, and soon, he could hear almost nothing altogether. Waiting patiently, he strained his ears to pick up on the slightest noises, but nothing came. Nothing else happened.

After some nerve-wracking moments, he finally decided that there was no point to it. Obviously, whatever had gone on at the top tiers had ended and was already being quelled by the wardens.

_**Maybe some prisoners had attempted a revolt?**_

Growling in frustration, he swung his legs back onto the bed and had already begun re-withdrawing into his thoughts, when - with a force reminiscent to a pissed Erza - the steel door was blown full off its hinges (portions of the wall coming with it), and dark shapes were thrown forcefully across the length of the room. In his shock, he ended up falling out of his bed!

What followed next was a man he couldn't recognize, and was very sure he had never met, even with his memory being what it was in recent times. The intruder strolled through the hole like he hadn't just blown a six-inch mass of reinforced steel off the wall. Jellal couldn't make out his features clearly in the darkness, but he was reasonably stunned when he noticed the man's eyes. Even in the darkness, he could tell they were an electric blue.

The intruder looked around at the damage he had caused; those blue eyes blinking owlishly in the gloom, and then turned to the still slack-jawed Jellal.

"You Jellal?"

Jellal could only nod dumbly; earning what he assumed was a grin from the man.

"I've found him!", he called out to no one in particular, but it was soon obvious that he did when another presence made itself known in the room. This one was clad in black.

"Finally", the newcomer grunted, obviously more than a bit unhappy with the situation.

Jellal - who had only just regained his cool by this point - was just about to speak, when the hackles tensed on the back of his neck. Acting on instinct, he raised his arms in order to block a lightning-quick attack from the first man. It still hurt pretty badly, and the kick jarred him down to the bone... but he was able to deflect it successfully - even though he was pushed a good distance back in the process.

"Who are you?", he grunted with the strain, "Do you come to assassinate me?"

His blue-eyed attacker grinned again (a trait the bluenet was now coming to use to define him) before replying, "Not bad, not bad at all. But I would have expected better - from a former wizard saint, that is."

"What the hell, boss?", his partner chastised, "We came here to interrogate the man, not kill him!"

The two men remained locked in their stare down however, and just when Jellal got the foreboding that the man would go on to attack him anyway, reasons be damned; the intruder suddenly wiggled funnily as if an electric current had just been passed through him.

"Woah, what was that?"

"You're just noticing it?", his partner sounded, a faint lilt in his voice, "There's some strange power in these walls. Stay in here too long and we're gonna lose a good portion of whatever energy we have left."

The offending appendage poised at Jellal's face dropped reluctantly.

"Kyo, get the light."

'Kyo' rustled for something in his clothes, and Jellal was almost unprepared for the brilliant beam of light that almost blinded him as a torch sparked to life. He struggled to adjust to the change. _It had been so long…_

All three men appraised each other in the new lighting.

"Well, you look like fuck", the one called Kyo whistled genially; and Jellal was suddenly reminded of the scraggly year-old beard dangling from his own jaw. The man named Kyo was a tall, gangly fellow with windswept black hair and a face that would have been boyish had it not been for the life of past hardship that was evidently written all over it. However, what struck Jellal as odd was the rolls of bandages the man was tightly swaddled in.

"Woah, hold on. Is that tattoo permanent?"

Jellal frowned, his eyes stinging painfully due to the intensity of the light, "Wha-?"

"You're blinding the man", Blue-eyes sighed, "Reduce the wavelength by a few notches."

The light in the room dimmed down some and the pain behind Jellal's eyeballs lessened. He glanced at his attacker once more. He was a strange one; with whiskered cheeks, golden blond hair and those intensive blue eyes. However, the fists which lay at his sides were mangled (possibly fractured) and bleeding profusely. Jellal didn't need to guess to know what had caused that. Out of the corner of his eye, he could already see the knocked out guards resting alongside the door on a now pulverized WC.

The man obviously didn't care about his own condition because he began abruptly, "I need to ask you something" – but the bluenet was having none of it.

"What the hell? Who are you people? Did Ultear send you?"

Blue eyes looked at him strangely, "Ultear? No, I don't know anything about ultears."

Jellal felt his heart drop, "Then what do you want?"

"I told you. I need you to answer a question for me... about the R-system."

Jellal stared at him incredulously.

"W-wait. _What_? You broke in… in here just to ask me a question?"

The blond frowned, "Wow, you're pretty bright, aren't ya? Just tell us everything you know about it and we'd leave you alone."

Jellal didn't need to think it over.

"No."

"No?", the man cocked an eyebrow, "Why?"

"B-because it's black magic. I'm not letting that information fall into the wrong hands."

"... Says the guy who built it himself", Kyo muttered, but a commotion from outside the cell caused his boss to turn to him.

"You mind holding them off for a while?"

Kyo nodded, leaving as silently as he'd appeared, and throwing the room into darkness once again.

Jellal kept his guard up, tensing when he sensed the man raise a bloodied hand to run through his fingers through his hair. The intruder sighed, "Look man, I'm not really a fan of black magic either - but a dear friend of mine went missing investigating that dirt. I need to know everything you do about it."

His eyes - which were wide and truthful, were locked with Jellal's, but the one thing the prisoner had learned recently was that he couldn't afford to trust anyone. Especially strange blonde men who had apparently broken into a maximum security prison for no legitimate reason.

However, this was also a different ball game entirely. Jellal still hadn't grasped the absurdity of his current predicament, but one thing he knew for certain was that irrespective of whether he had a hand in this or not, sooner or later, they were sure to be rounded up by the rune knights and then, they would both be in serious trouble.

That being said, he took a giant plunge and prayed to whatever deities existed above that he had made the right decision.

"Yes, it is true that I built the R-system two years ago in the hopes of resurrecting Zeref, but I will only tell you more if you manage to break me out of here."

_There_, he thought to himself. He had managed to say all that with a straight face. He hoped he hadn't sounded _too_ desperate.

He had no idea who the man was or whether he could even be trusted, but one thing was certain - if he didn't escape today, he could kiss all further chances of doing so goodbye. The Council would be sure to tighten their defenses after this (Yoshino had never been breached before!) and then there was the remote possibility that he could be moved to an even more secure location - probably in the Council's headquarters once again. Ultear would be too powerless to help then – and didn't he have _every_ right to make demands of the man? After all, the idiot had obliquely made his life more complicated than it already was…

"Fine", the man said without thought, turning on his heels and walking away.

"_Fine?_", Jellal squawked.

"You want to get out, right? We want to get out too. And we could probably use the help a former wizard saint could offer. So, let's go."

Jellal blanched, "So you mean to tell me that you broke in here without having an escape plan in the first place?!"

The blond gave him a deadpan look, "Yeah, so?"

Jellal wondered again just who exactly this idiot was.

"Just lead on", he finally sighed.

XXXXXXXXX

They'd stepped through the hole in the wall and wandered down the corridor only to find Kyo struggling against a small squad of garrison troops, his right hand wielding the staffed torch as a weapon.

"You know, when you guys are finally done with your game of twenty questions, I wouldn't mind getting a little bit of help over here", he grunted, even as he got wounded in the side with a spear.

Naruto and Jellal immediately leapt into action, and between the three of them (Jellal doing much less than the others), they managed to drive the knights back.

"It's Jellal!", the soldiers cried, "Jellal!"

"Oh no, It's him!"

"The intruders are down here! They've freed Jellal!"

Naruto grumbled at their cries, a bit irritated that the prisoner he'd rescued seemed to be getting more recognition than he was.

He turned to Kyo. "You alright?", he asked - even as he socked another knight in the face, totally ignoring his ruined hand.

"I've lived through worse", the man replied, not bothering to comment on his boss' own injuries. He nodded to the tattoo-faced man in their midst, "He coming with us?"

"Yeah", Naruto replied, "We'd need him."

Once they were done with the knights, they tore down the narrow passageway, the lacrima illuminating the walls on both sides.

"Watch out for traps", Naruto warned, "Kyo already found out the hard way when he fell into one."

"It was full of alligators!", the man yelled back from his position in the front, "And you didn't help me!"

"You were lucky it wasn't venomous snakes or something", Naruto shrugged, "You got off easy."

As soon as he said this, he disappeared through a chasm in the ground, only to reappear again moments later with a perfectly executed wall bounding maneuver.

Kyo chuckled.

"Don't say a word", Naruto warned, his eyes narrowing to slits as they continued their sprint, "Although, I guess I just found out where the venomous snakes ended up."

He noticed Jellal's face turn a shade of green that couldn't possibly have been healthy.

They rounded a corner and climbed up a stairwell only to be stopped by another wall of knights obstructing their path.

"There they are!", they yelled, waving their spears and flaming torches.

"Intruders! Don't let them get through!"

"They still have the criminal!"

And just as easily as before, they decimated all of them.

"Do you know anything about runes?", Naruto asked the prisoner off-handedly, as they made another random turn and passed through a line of empty cells.

_Seriously, this place was freaking huge. How the hell were they going to get out of here?_

Jellal panted; quite unused to the exertion. A bruise colored his face from where a knight had gotten a lucky hit in, "Not enough - but I know a spell that can be used to destroy them. Unfortunately though, it would require magic. Do you _even_ know where we're going?"

"Not really", Naruto shrugged.

"Why am I not surprised?"

The three men had just barged into another passageway when Naruto suddenly felt an odd tingling sensation crawl down his spine. Quick as thought, he swiveled sharply on his heels and planted his feet on both his comrades' chests - knocking them well back from him. A glyph barrier immediately rose to separate them.

"Boss!", Kyo called out, the moment he realized what had just transpired.

"Find another way out", Naruto calmly instructed, thoughtfully laying a hand against the barrier. The glyph wall had perfectly dissected both ends of the corridor, leaving Naruto trapped in an area approximately the size of a large bathroom. Something about the runes seemed familiar though…

"Boss!", Kyo cried again, anime-style tears coursing down the length of his face. He gave a cheesy salute, "I'll never forget your sacrifice, Naruto-sama! Your name shall go down in history!"

Naruto sweat-dropped, "Yeah, whatever."

Kyo nodded once, and before Jellal could protest - picked the other man and forced him down the opposite passageway. Naruto watched the light fade away in the distance, and once he was sure that they had successfully escaped the area, he turned, his eyebrows furrowed in a glare.

"There's no point in hiding. You can come out now."

"If you insist", a voice responded, and from the pitch black, a bespectacled man appeared, dressed in robes befitting a high official of the consulate. The only light source Naruto had now was the subtle glow reflected off the glyphs.

"He who writes the rules, dictates the battle", he smiled nonetheless, "Are you the rune master behind all this?"

Lahar did not speak immediately, choosing instead to throw his spell book open. A bright flash blinded the corridor and the tome was transformed into a glowing blade right in his very hands. It was a fine piece really; shaped like a short sword, a queer tassel fitted with an _ankhish_ symbol hanging from its hilt.

"You are a noble man", Lahar noted quietly; the light off his blade playing tag on a corner of his face, "You forced your comrades to safety the moment you noticed my trap. However, they would not get very far. Reinforcements from other garrisons have arrived and I have set up numerous barriers around the place."

Naruto's smile widened, "So, you are the rune master then?"

The captain of the Knights didn't waver; instead, he raised his sword impassively.

"I would ask what you want with the prisoner; Jellal", he spoke, "however, that is a matter I can leave to the able hands of the Council. You, on the other hand, are advised to stand -"

Lahar almost missed the fist that would have taken off his head. Had he been any slower, the battle would have already been lost. However, his late dodge saved him, allowing the assault to graze near-harmlessly past the bridge of his nose. His spectacles clattered to the floor.

Naruto pressed forward, pivoting on his heels then launching a clogged foot at the man. This time though, Lahar was prepared, and being the swifter, he easily sidestepped the blow, scoring a vicious wound across the blond's chest in retaliation.

"You waste your time", the captain berated, "You are not fast enough to harm me - at least, not without your magic."

Naruto didn't care about that, and as he attacked once more, Lahar stuck his sword straight out and pierced him in the left shoulder. However, in a totally unexpected move, the whiskered blond managed to grab the weapon mid-strike; drawing more blood from his already damaged hands, and trapping his opponent right where he wanted him to be.

"You're so full of it", Naruto declared, before promptly proceeding to kick the captain in the face and into the adjacent wall.

XXXX

Jellal gasped for breath, having already given up on the ability of his body to continue moving. Without the powerhouse that was Naruto, both men had been forced to take subtler routes in order to avoid unnecessary battles with the knights. Right now, they were hiding out in a small utility room, temporarily safe from the guards who kept mobilizing outside, and at a total loss of just what exactly to do next.

"We should -", Jellal panted, crumbling to a heap on the floor, "We should go back for him. He'd need our help."

He still felt dismayed by the manner in which his new partner had abandoned their blonde-haired comrade. However, if Kyo was disturbed by his own actions, he showed no indication of it, apart from the way his brown eyes looked thoughtful in his angular face. He toyed with the now dimmed lacrima staff in his hands.

"Boss will catch up."

"_Catch up?_", Jellal repeated in a hiss, lest anyone else hear them, "_How?_ We've been running for ages and we still aren't any closer to escaping this place!"

"Hey, you know what?", Kyo retorted jovially, "I think you're right! We can't defeat the knights. We're wounded, powerless, and they've seemed to even **triple** in number! Not to mention that they're bound to be waiting for us on the surface. It will be suicide!"

"Thank you for pointing that out", Jellal muttered darkly, wondering how in the world the man could even attempt to make light of their current situation. He fingered his temples and briefly pondered what the Fairy tail guild would have done in their stead. Natsu would have probably kept fighting to the very end...

... Much like he was sure to have done on Tenrou Island.

"Damn. What I wouldn't give for a drink right about now", Kyo sighed heavily beside him, interrupting his current train of thought. The dark-haired man leaned his head against the near wall, groaning, "I hate taking charge, you know? Makes me feel all funny inside... like the fate of the whole world's resting on my shoulders..."

Jellal himself was starting to feel pretty miserable too. If they got caught here, everything would be over. There would be no hope left - none at all. Staying put in his cell was suddenly beginning to seem like the more sensible option now. Maybe, if he were lucky, Ultear could have still managed to pull something off.

Looking down at his hands, he grimaced slightly. _If only he had his magic..._

_Pita. Pata. Pita. Pata._

The two men immediately stilled as the sound of approaching footsteps made its way to their ears; and it was only now they realized that it had been quiet outside the room for quite some time. Kyo switched off the lacrima completely, and straightened his back against the wall, that sharp look returning once again to his usually blithe face.

Jellal followed suit, falling into alert on opposite side of the only exit in the room. He heard the knob on the wooden door turn, apprehension coiling horribly in the pits of his gut. _He wouldn't give the intruder a chance to sound the alarm..._

The door swung open.

Jellal leapt up, only to be sent reeling by a powerful foot to the chest.

Kyo; who hadn't even moved an inch, just smiled up at the newcomer, "About damn time."

XXXXXXX

Lahar frowned, glaring incredulously at the monster of a man he was going up against. The blond had been able to hold his own perfectly, despite still being unable to use magic.

"You are certainly powerful", he finally conceded, even as the bruise on his face throbbed, "If you weren't an enemy, I would have put in a good word for you with the Council. Unfortunately, it all ends here."

Taking his short sword, he stabbed it into the glyph wall and created an intricate design.

"Another rune?", Naruto wrinkled his nose, "Answer something for me. How do you keep using magic here? Shouldn't you too have been powerless, the moment you stepped into this prison?"

"That is a silly notion", Lahar scoffed, "The enchantments here might be aged and incredibly potent, but there are seal masters working with the Council who've learned to bend it to their will."

"So… you're not the original designer of these runes?"

"How the hell can I be?!", the captain retorted comically, "Those things must be a hundred years old! Do I look a hundred years old to you?!"

"Darn", Naruto sighed, squatting to sit on his haunches, "And I thought that when I defeat you, I could finally release the enchantments on this place."

The knight-captain noticed the man's use of 'when' not 'if', however, there was something else he realized.

"You allowed yourself fall into my trap?"

Naruto shrugged, "Well, yeah. Defeating the caster of these irksome runes will normally result in the enchantments being dispelled, right?"

Lahar nodded slowly. The man had a highly unconventional process of thought; although that was to be expected from someone who'd been mad enough to assault Yoshino in the first place. Maybe it was time he wrapped things up.

"I have taken too long. The council will not be pleased as it is - _Hiraishin!_"

"Hiraishin?", Naruto rose in surprise, but was then forced to a knee when a line of blood erupted from his back. Turning in anger, it took him a second to realize that Lahar now stood behind him. A second too late.

"Too slow."

"What?"

Another spray of blood lined the walls.

"I hope you realize now", the captain spoke lowly, "I hope you can comprehend just how futile the situation became for you the moment you walked into this trap."

"_Bastard_", Naruto spat, his entire body lined now with numerous shallow cuts which would have been grievous had it not been for the incredible durability his magic imbued body possessed. "_Hiraishin_ - whoever casts the runes gains the ability to move with speed like a god of flying thunder... heh... I knew your runes looked familiar..."

"You know this technique?", Lahar squawked, hating himself for sounding too surprised.

His blond adversary looked him in the eye, "Yes, I do. Ironic, isn't it? - but the _hiraishin_ you use; it was created by my own father."

Lahar's eyes bulged at the news.

"Lies", he growled.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Why would I want to lie about that?"

"The _Hiraishin_ technique was created by Captain Minato Namikaze."

"Yeah, and I am his son; Naruto Uzumaki, although, you might understand why I choose to go by my mother's name."

"Then why?"

"Why what?", Naruto replied, genuinely perplexed.

"Why...", Lahar struggled. **"Why do you taint the name of your father by doing something so reckless?!"**, he finally exploded, "You are the last remnant of teacher's line on earth! Why are you trying to go against the rules he fought so hard to defend?"

When Naruto didn't respond, Lahar sneered, picking his spectacles and replacing them on the bridge of his nose, "It doesn't matter. If you are truly that man's son, then I will do him the honor he dearly deserves."

He raised his sword, and an uncharacteristic dark look that would have been unrecognizable to all those who knew him fell over his face, "Rather than allow you to continue bringing disgrace to him, I will kill you here to stop you from tainting that name any further. The rest of your friends can be handed over to the Council, but you, Namikaze – you will pay for your crime! _Hiraishin!_"

The strikes came swiftly and studiously. Naruto tried protecting himself to the best of his ability, but without his magic, it was of no use. As long as he remained trapped within the barrier, he was sitting duck to the mighty power of the Flying thunder god technique.

Losing what little strength he had left, he succumbed to the floor, sword wounds littering the length of his body. He felt the sting of cold steel on his neck.

"You can say your prayers now", Lahar advised solemnly, a maddened look in his eye, "Maybe it was the fates that decreed we would meet here, but I believe there is a reason you were delivered into m…"

"Naruto-sama!"

Naruto looked up to see his two most recent accomplices running towards him. In the lead was Samui, whose breasts were bouncing about in such a manner that drew a leer from him despite his current predicament.

"The magic is back on!", Samui was saying, "You can use your magic now, Naruto-sama!"

"W-what?!", Lahar faltered, but his opponent was much swifter. Leaping up with a sudden boost of energy, the blond placed both his palms on the ground, summoning a tight circle of toad statues around him.

"Try and flash away from this now", he grinned deviously, "**Toad magic: All-direction oil flame cannon!**"

The small glyph barrier erupted in a wash of flame.

"Naruto, are you okay?", Samui asked as worriedly as she could manage (which wasn't very much) and as worriedly as he would allow (which wasn't very much either), the moment their blond leader stepped through the dispelled barrier.

He quickly enveloped her in a tight hug, "You are a lifesaver, Samui-chan! What did you do?"

The blond woman frowned up at him, looking none too pleased, "Well, while you guys ran on ahead like a couple of mad oxen, I stayed behind to figure out some kind of plan", she shook her head derisively, "I noticed the custody division arrive some time later and used my magic on their captain there to extract vital information on the runes. I've been modifying it ever since." She then sighed in defeat, "Sadly, it's only the magic part I've been able to re-write."

Naruto grinned at her once more, then frowned, then cleared his throat with a gentle cough, "Well then, you've done the best you could. I didn't expect much from you, so you've only managed to meet my expectations really."

Samui's jaw dropped, "Are you serious?"

"We better get moving", Naruto ignored her, gesturing to the other men.

"Y-you… idiots", a thoroughly toasted Lahar groaned, glaring up at them from his position on the ground, "Do you know what will happen if you alter the enchantments on this place?"

As if to answer his question, a series of explosions were heard from the floors below. The entire building trembled with the aftershocks.

"Err... no", Kyo replied sagely.

"There are _powerful_ criminals in here", Jellal mumbled tiredly, "Extremely deadly wizards who have been locked away for a reason. If everybody suddenly regains the ability to use magic..."

"Ah, I see", Kyo nodded, "But they still wouldn't be able to escape, would they?"

"It would become hell on earth!", Lahar spat painfully, "We'd consider ourselves lucky to even be alive by the time the Council decides to take action!"

"What sort of action could the council take?", Naruto snorted.

Samui shrugged, "They might possibly decide to fire the **satellite square: etherion**…"

"No, not the etherion", Lahar gritted out, un-phased by the unnerving stare Samui was now leveling at him, "It would make sense that you wouldn't know of it seeing as it is only a lesser known measure."

"What measure?", Naruto asked curiously.

"I am talking about the three Wizard saints of War."

"The three wizard… what?"

"They are the last of all the last resorts", the knight-captain replied irritably, "A specialized force meant to deal with forces just like you." He gasped briefly in pain, "They might not be as powerful as the gods of Ishgal, but they are always amongst the strongest in the Saints. They bring destruction wherever they go, and collectively, are said to rival the strength of even the black mage Zeref himself."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Why are you telling us of this now? Seeing as it seems to be a rather hush affair."

Lahar snorted, "Whether you know or not won't save you. Besides…" he turned to Jellal, "You would know this, wouldn't you? Seeing as you were one of them up until only a little while ago."

Kyo and Samui glanced sharply at the tattoo-faced man.

"I…I have no recollection of this", Jellal muttered sheepishly.

The shuffle of feet brought their attention back to their leader, who had already begun leaving the hallway.

"Naruto-sama?"

"I don't care about the prisoners, the etherion, or these three Wizard Saints of warts", Naruto yawned comically, stretching out a kink in his neck, "We've gotten what we came for. It's time we left."

"But we'll be up against the rune knights, along with various other super powered mass murderers", Samui reminded him.

"Well, they can't be much worse than Jellal here, can they?", Kyo joked.

"Thanks for the endorsement", the former wizard saint muttered.

"You know", Naruto interrupted, furrowing his brows the way he usually did when he was confused or had come up with some half-assed plan, "We might actually be able to use all this commotion to our advantage."

"A battalion of soldiers are positioned just beyond the walls", Samui supplied, "They are waiting to gun down anyone who manages to emerge from the barrier."

Naruto glanced at her, "Have you discovered a way to deactivate them yet?"

She shook her head, "No. Even the captain over there has no idea. However… there is another _route_; a tunnel below this facility that could allow us reach the surface without having to go through the main exit. We'd avoid a lot of unnecessary run-ins with knights and other prisoners that way."

"Lead the way", he commanded.

He then turned quickly towards Jellal, obstructing the man's path, "You've gotten your magic back. You have no true reason to follow us anymore."

The bluenet met his gaze, "I have already given my word. I plan on seeing this through to the end."

"Good", Naruto grinned, "'Coz I would have broken both your legs if you hadn't."

Despite the grin, Jellal could tell that the man was being extremely serious.

"I suggest you get out of here as quickly as you can", Naruto spoke over his shoulder to Lahar, "If the prisoners here are anything like you make them out to be, then they probably wouldn't take lightly to the sight of a high-ranking council officer lying around. Just a warning."

And then, they were off once again; Samui in the lead this time around.

Lahar watched them go, a great sense of foreboding overtaking him. This man... this _Naruto_...

_Who was he? And how the heck had the Council not gotten word of him up until now?_

He could sense the end of the magic world in sight and Naruto very much could be right in the middle of it all.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

a/n: For those who may have not realized, this story is set after the Tenrou Island incident, probably sometime around X786. In the original timeline, Lucy joined Fairy tail around X784; the same year in which Fairy tail's core members disappeared.

Unfortunately, this is not the original timeline.

I am not a fan of the One-piece-syndrome where characters remain the same age over the course of an entire plotline. Therefore, in this story, Lucy joined Fairy tail in the year X784 but disappeared around X785, bringing her age here to canonical plus one, upon her re-appearance. The same adjustments should be noted for other members of the Tenrou Island team. Due to these changes, earlier canon adventures (such as the Tower of Heaven arc) would be tagged X784, while the latter adventures (from the Oracion seis arc downwards) all occurred in X785 in my timeline. The core Fairy tail members would still return in X791, which is still seven years later if I'm counting right.

That apart, the original plan for this story was to follow canon somewhat strictly up until just shortly after the Grand magic games. Naruto's introduction into the Fairy tail world wouldn't have any **major** impacts on canonical storyline, since I'd be devising an original plotline for his adventures that would correlate but not interfere (too much hopefully) with that of the existing plot. I just hope I didn't spoil it too much or bore it all for you already.

Oh yeah, Kyo is an OC of mine. A story like this needed at least one original character after all. The Naruto characters I choose to use will appear somewhat randomly, seeing as I really don't have much planned out for this story beyond the original two-shot. Can anyone spot the inspiration behind Yoshino Island?

Constructive criticism will be very much appreciated.


	2. Lone-eyed fiends

Alright, here it is; the second part of my pilot.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter Two

The Man Who Cried Saint

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The entire facility was a mess.

At every corner, rune knights battled furtively against the now rampaging prisoners. The small group of intruders; who had broken into the Island for the sole purpose of seeking out a man, steered away from battle as much as was possible – but few could match the strength of a wizard saint like Jellal anyway, and any who even tried were instantly smote down.

They had just returned to the dungeons (the section of the facility wherein Jellal had been held), when Kyo finally broke the terse silence hovering over the group.

"There is no one here."

Of course, they could all see that. The area was eerily devoid of any activity, and none of the few cells (except Jellal's) showed any signs of having been broken in. There were signs of a battle though – and a few unconscious rune knights littered the area – however, if that was from their earlier passage through here or something else, they really couldn't tell.

"Were there any other prisoners like yourself down in the dungeons?", Naruto inquired, still managing to keep up with them perfectly despite his injuries.

"I'm not sure", Jellal replied him, "It was always pretty quiet down here; however, I do know that I wasn't the only S-class mage on the Island."

"Wasn't or aren't?"

"Does it make any difference?", Jellal sighed, "We'd probably find out anyway, won't we?"

With that said, they continued forward, the only sounds heard being the clopping noises Naruto's clogs made on the ground. The shadows seemed to devour them the deeper they descended; something which the trusty lacrima torch (now in Samui's hands) struggled to effectively dispel. Out of curiosity, Kyo lagged some ways behind, peering into cells as they passed.

"_It is here._"

"Here?", Naruto retorted dubiously, glancing at the un-used cell at the exact end of the dungeon Samui was pointing towards.

"Yes – _here_", the woman sighed, "I would know, wouldn't I? This entrance connects the dungeons to a tunnel that runs throughout the length of The Black. The wardens use them as escape routes in the off chance that any dangerous criminals broke free. It will lead us to the surface."

Naruto wrinkled his nose at the thought. He had always hated tunneling – and not just because it made him feel like a rat, or worse, some kind of fox.

"How safe do you think they might be?"

"Gee, Naruto-sama, I don't know", Samui griped, very much aware of his phobia, "About as safe as they are old – a hundred years, give or take."

"_A hundred years?!_"

"Maybe tunnels are like good wine", Jellal offered good-naturedly, "Get better with time, that kind of stuff?"

Naruto glared at the man, "You know; I'm starting to think that you must have been a pretty lame dark wizard if your jokes are any indication."

"I try my best", Jellal muttered dryly.

Kyo had just been re-joining the team when he was stopped by a scratchy sound coming from the cell nearest him. Pausing, he craned his neck to take a peek through the bars, only to reel back in shock.

"_Gahh!_"

The rest of the group gathered around him.

"What happened?", Samui groused, "Did you see something?"

"Yeah", Kyo muttered, "I think someone is down there."

"Someone?", Naruto began asking only to be interrupted by a wheezy voice; worn with disuse.

"_Now this is a very peculiar sight..._"

The blond's bright cerulean orbs sharpened instantly to deadly shards, "Who's there?"

"Well, _what do you know?_", the voice continued amusedly, "Quite a group you got there, un. The wizard saint; Jellal Fernandes, a blonde bombshell, and two other goofs I probably know nothing about."

"Hey!", Naruto and Kyo yelled, however before anybody could say anymore, Samui suddenly stiffened and began walking down the long passage way.

"Er, where are you going?"

"We have our work cut out for us, Naruto-sama", she replied icily, "We can't waste time dawdling."

"What do you mean?", Naruto frowned, but the disembodied voice had begun speaking once again.

"I'm hurt, Samui-_chyan_. Is that any way to say hello to your brother?"

The woman immediately wheeled on her heels, "You are _not_ my brother."

"Un, I know, but close enough, right? I'm about as much as the only family you have left."

Naruto swore he had never seen Samui's eyes look steelier.

"Let's go, _now_", she finally hissed.

However, their blond leader was having none of it. He was intrigued now, and really wanted to discern more about the current situation. There was also that little part of him that felt bad that he had never actually cared to know much about the girl's past before now.

"Oi, you in there", he called curiously, "Who are _you?_"

"Un, Captain Deidera, at your service - bomber for hire."

Naruto nodded approvingly, "The magic is back on. What are you still doing in your cell?"

The voice snorted, "What should I be doing out of it? I have no interest in joining the ruckus outside – this is the best part! Besides, I had a feeling you junkies were gonna come back in here."

"Oh, so you want to battle?"

"No! I told you I'm not like the other idiots out there! I want to escape with you guys!"

Naruto pondered this for a while, "Hmm, and you were waiting for the off-chance that we'd return to tell me this? What are you in here for anyway?"

"Why? Do I need to take a passport and a survey in order to join you guys?"

When Naruto didn't reply, the man finally conceded, grumbling, "Picky, aren't ya? Well, if you must know, I was put in here by the Council. The fools could never understand my love for true art so they stripped me from my position and threw me in jail!"

Naruto exchanged a wary look with his subordinates.

"Well, sorry, dude", he eventually announced, not sounding anywhere near sympathetic, "We kinda have one mass murderer on our team already. We're crowded enough as it is."

"Good luck getting out of here though", Kyo finished, getting ready to leave.

"_Wait!_", the man cried in alarm, "I can help you escape!". When he didn't get an instant reply, he continued; a certain smugness to his voice, "It's easy to see that _Barbie_ over there stole the memories from one of the captains, however, what you don't know is that I'm actually the only one here capable of maneuvering through those tunnels."

"Don't listen to him, Naruto-sama", Samui grit her teeth, "He's slime. He'd do anything to have his way."

"Oh, but you know I'm telling the truth, un, Samui-chan?", Deidera called back, "Who knows what treachery lies within those dark holes?"

Naruto shivered at the thought of the tunnel, "Ugh, I get your point."

"We have a torch!", Samui yelled.

"Bet you can't use that to see booby traps coming", Deidera scoffed.

"Jellal?", Naruto finally asked, deciding that he would need more input on the matter.

The tattoo-faced man frowned, "Err, associate Deidera; former captain of the fifth unit of the Custody division. He was imprisoned for his blatant disregard for the lives of his fellow men and taxpayer's property. That's about all I remember. He's been locked up even before I joined the Council."

Naruto's voice hardened; his attention once again on the prisoner, "Do you pose any threat to my men?"

There was a pregnant pause, one which Deidera savored before finally answering, "No. Not really. Living in a small, dark cell can do those sorts of things to ya, you know."

"Well, get out of your cell then."

Ten minutes rolled by – when Deidera still hadn't emerged by that time; the whole group sweat-dropped.

"What's the problem now?", Kyo asked.

"Well, now that you mention it, I'm kinda tied up over here."

Groaning, Naruto strode forward and smacked the door off its hinges. Behind it was Deidera, who was seated on a bunk, his back pressed against a wall. His luxuriant blonde hair and nails had grown dirty in his imprisonment, and his skin had grown pale from the lack of sunlight, however, none of them could miss the maddened look in his visible eye.

"You are not tied up", Naruto noticed irritably.

"Well, yes, but I'm pretty much useless anyway – what with these strength-draining walls and my lack of art materials."

"How can you help us, then", he inquired as Deidera strolled out of his prison, a small limp in his steps.

The prisoner smiled, swiping a lock of his hair away to reveal his artificial right eye, which was designed like a telescope.

"It's eye magic, un - kept it hidden from the Council. Pretty good long range and night vision, ya know?" He jerked his head down the dungeons, "Plus... I'm not the only one."

"There's someone else?", Jellal asked cautiously.

"Yup, and he's got eyesight almost as good as mine!" The now unconstrained prisoner walked over to the cell opposite his and gave its door a solid kick, "You can come out now, hottie!"

It took a while, but the group finally caught sound of a timorous voice which they would have missed had they not been trying, "_Leave me alone!_"

"Leave you alone?", Deidera gawked, "You mean you were being serious all this time? I thought you were just being a jerk when you didn't want to use your magic to help me break free."

"Who's that?"

The former knight-captain turned to Kyo, "That's Hoteye. He used to be a member of the Oracion seis, I think."

Jellal gasped, "I… I remember him! I had no idea he was in here too! He's a pretty powerful mage!"

Deidera waved him off boredly, "That was back then. He's pretty much copped out now – always keeping me awake at night with long diatribes of love and happiness, you know, boring stuff."

A man rose to peer at them through the small viewing bars. They were all surprised by his deep-set eyes and oddly-shaped jaw. However, what shocked everyone the most were the tears which were streaming down his face – despite the fact that his painted lips were twisted in a smile.

"Are you Hoteye?", Naruto ventured.

The man's smile widened, "Exactly!"

"Are the other members of the Oracion seis in here too?"

Hoteye shook his head, "Angel and Cobra are being held in Crocus, while our leader; Brain, is dead. I have no idea where the rest are."

"Alright... you are a powerful mage. I guess you can be allowed to join us."

"Naruto-sama", Samui warned, uncomfortably, "We can't have another dark wizard on the team… especially one from _that_ guild."

"Don't worry", Hoteye declared, the tears still flowing down, "I have no intention of going anywhere!"

"Wha - why?"

The huge man retreated from the bars, choosing to return to his mattress, "What is your name?"

Naruto didn't miss a heartbeat, "Naruto Uzumaki."

"Very well, Naruto Uzumaki, I will tell you why I have no wish for escape. I have seen the light and have been forced from the darkness that had earlier consumed me. No more shall I feel that unquenchable lust for money and precious stones. All I wish for now is to spread love!"

"But how does that affect anything?", the blond retorted, confused.

Hoteye smiled once more, though it remained hidden behind the walls of his cell, "My newfound repentance and consequent stroll in the light do not negate the bad things I have done. In fact, they buttress it. I promised myself that I will atone for my sins, Naruto-dono, and that is what I will do, exactly! My only desire outside these walls is to be reunited with my long-lost brother, and when I do so, it will not be as a hunted man. Therefore, I shall stay here and carry out the entirety of my sentence if it means that I can finally be free!"

"What a goof", Deidera mumbled - but Naruto backed away from the cell; a grin on his face.

"I respect your wishes, Hoteye-dono. It would take more of a man to do what you just did". He paused, "But you are a man, aren't you? Not some tranny in a costume?"

"I am man, Naruto-dono."

The toad sage gave him a thumbs-up, "Very well, then. I wish you good luck! I hope you meet up with your brother some day. Let's move, people!"

As the group filed towards their escape route, Hoteye grinned and hugged his scripture book tightly against his chest, "I wish you all the best too, Naruto-dono, exactly!"

Kyo noticed Jellal's forlorn look as they left Hoteye's cell behind.

"What's the problem?"

"It's nothing", the former wizard saint sighed, "I just... I guess I used to have a pretty strong conviction too."

"Oh... well, if it'd make you feel any better, you were placed on death row, after all", Kyo shrugged, "That's probably a stronger heart changer than Nirvana itself."

"I'll keep that in mind", Jellal muttered dryly.

XXXXXXXXX

The journey through the tunnels hadn't exactly been refreshing. For one, it had taken everything to actually convince Naruto to go through with it - especially after Samui had revealed that the entrance was hidden beneath the lone toilet in the cell.

"... but... but, there'll be roaches!", Naruto had groaned, "I think it will be better if we just battle our way to the top!"

Eventually, he'd succumbed - after much scuffling and biting - and they'd descended into the treacherous tunnels, Deidera leading the way. This far under the ground, they could hear no more of the on-going battles between knights and mages, however, they were soon poised with another problem; once it came to be time to resurface.

"This would pretty blow if this tunnel doesn't take us beyond the walls", Kyo grumbled, eying something slimy on the rocks distastefully, "I'd hate to have to be thrown directly into the fray after slugging through all this."

"Duly noted", Deidera agreed, forcing the latch at the end of their journey open... only to surface right in the middle of a standoff, with the garrison troops on one side and the Island prisoners on the other. All eyes immediately fell on him as he rose from the rather inconspicuous slab of rock on the ground, and it was with a groan that he slapped a palm to his face and muttered, "Yup. You just had to jinx it, didn't ya?"

"**GET 'EM!**"

The two forces charged each other, and the rest of the group scrambled up the tunnels and out of the way as the battle commenced – Jellal and Samui almost losing their heads to magic attacks in the process.

"What do we do now?!", Kyo yelped, forced to join in on the skirmish. Above them, lethal spells flew haphazardly, felling mages and knights alike.

"We have to get Jellal close enough to cast his spell on the runes", Naruto grunted.

Samui, who was attacking foes left and right; irrespective of affiliation, yelled at their blond leader, "We need some space, Naruto-sama."

The sage nodded but was beaten to it by Jellal who turned on the garrison troops and positioned his palms in a unique symbol, "**Grand chariot!**"

Seven seals materialized before him, forming a constellation that fired off high impact beams at the advancing knights. The ground beneath their feet erupted, and a good number of them were thrown into the air.

Naruto grinned, recognizing the challenge, and faced the other end of the battlefield. Placing both palms around his mouth, he summoned his magic and bellowed, "**Toad magic: Oil flame bomb!**"

A ridiculously huge ball of fire billowed out his mouth, instantly causing the wizard attackers to run for cover or end up being turned into barbecue.

"Hey, not bad", Jellal smirked.

"Yours could do better", Naruto countered.

The other members of their rickety team sweat dropped.

"They're good", Deidera observed, watching as they continued to fell foes left and right; Jellal with his heavenly beams and Naruto with his toad magic.

"Tell me about it", Kyo and Samui muttered.

"Don't just stand around - move!", Jellal roared, once he and Naruto had finally cleared a safe enough path.

"Oi, you're not our boss!", Kyo retorted, but he did move when he saw his leader hurtle past him.

The crowds of opposing forces were just regaining their footing when Naruto and his small group reached one end of the barrier.

"What do we do now?", the blond sage growled. The enchantments were still up in full force and had even resisted the futile attacks some of the prisoners had thrown at it. Perhaps, due to Samui's machinations, the conjunctive glyphs were now colored a vibrant pink rather than the deep amethyst it had once been.

"I'll cast a self-destruct sequence on the runes", Jellal announced. He walked towards the barrier, arms poised, "It would likely take some time to activate so..."

"We don't have _some_ time", Samui warned him, pointing to the approaching group of angry mages and knights.

"Well, what options do we have left?", Jellal yelled, "It would take you eons to rewrite the enchantments, and it is now obvious that you guys didn't come up with any particular plan when storming the pla – !"

"My, my, Jellal, where did you pick this rowdy bunch from?", a rather seductive voice called out, "This wasn't part of the original plan."

"Ultear!", the blue-haired man enthused.

"I told you before, I don't know any ultears", Naruto grumbled.

"No, not that", Jellal shook his head, "_That!_", he ended his statement by pointing to the portion of the outer wall right above them.

"Oh, good, and now, he objectifies me", Ultear feigned hurt, placing a dainty hand upon her sizeable bust.

Naruto took a long look at the woman. She was definitely a femme fatale, with full lips, dark locks and an explicitly attractive figure - but there was something else he noticed.

"What is she doing?"

Jellal followed his gaze and grinned, "That's the arc of time!"

"Of course, that's what it is", the lascivious brunette teased, "I'm glad that you were smart enough to attempt an escape during this commotion, Jellal. I didn't want to go searching for you in this mess." She paused to observe him better, "Is that a beard? For real? Wow, you really look like shit."

The addressed man flushed.

Naruto, on the other hand, had been studying the seal in Ultear's hands, then the barrier; which was now turning a sickly green. Glancing at the woman, he spoke, "You're eroding the enchantments with what I'm guessing is a form of lost magic. Someone as powerful as you – are you also one of the wizard saints?"

A tick mark appeared on Ultear's forehead as she mistook his use of _you_ for _Ul_.

"Shut your mouth!", she yelled back at him, much to Naruto and the gang's surprise.

"I can only give you so much time", Ultear continued over the din, her hair being displaced by the massive amount of magic she was exuding, "These seals are designed to be pretty durable but I can age them for only a minute or so before they replenish themselves."

"Go", Naruto ordered the group, turning now to face the raging mob; half of whom were ecstatic that the barrier was now being brought down.

The moment a window was visible in the runes, Jellal sprung into action. Activating his meteor ability, he grabbed Kyo and Samui, and rocketed upwards. Soaring through the barely large enough aperture, he landed by the side of a visibly strained Ultear.

"Naruto!", he turned to call to his new friend.

"Yeah, don't worry about me", Deidera grumbled, "I'm safe too."

Naruto, meanwhile, had cast his magic on the surrounding area. His gigantic earth styled wall rose to life from the copious amounts of mud he had spat before him. Sadly, it had already begun to crack under attack from rune knights and mages alike on the opposite end.

"I can't hold it much longer", Ultear groaned, as Jellal prepared to take off once more.

"We're not leaving them behind!", Jellal snarled, diving down to grab a hold of the two men. Naruto shrugged him off as he strained to keep the wall up against the onslaught.

"Keep moving! I'm right behind you!", the blond ordered.

Jellal spared him one worried glance then took off with the artist. The toad sage risked a last look to make sure they were all safe before finally letting his wall crumble. Getting a running start, he made a giant toad leap into the air even as a few magic attacks came close to striking him. Jellal grabbed his hand before he could fall.

"Gotcha!" The man grinned; then added as he pulled the blond up the wall, "_Show-off_."

"Ha!", Naruto cheered, once he had joined them atop the wall and the barrier had been restored. He grinned down at the mob below - who were looking at them rather forlornly - and blew a raspberry, "_Nyah_, _nyah_, _nyah_, we beat you, you pansies!"

"Er, Naruto-sama...", Kyo interjected.

The blond turned to him, "What?"

"We haven't exactly escaped yet..."

Behind them, waiting in front of the outer wall, was yet another squad of rune knights – most likely, Lahar's troop of reinforcements. They looked up at them, shock written all over their features.

"They've escaped! The prisoners have escaped!"

"The Black has been breached!"

"It hasn't been breached yet, you dimwits", Samui sighed, "Your prisoners are still inside -". She was cut off as the army unleashed a volley of gun magic at them.

"_Shit!_ Which way now?", Jellal cursed, grabbing the still weakened Deidera and racing along the length of the wall.

"Meredy's waiting for us at the shore with a stolen council ship", Ultesr instructed, "Our best bet would be to get there before the knights do - **luminous minutes!**". Her trusty lacrima erupted into numerous fragments, crashing down on the unsuspecting knights below.

"I can help with that", Kyo smirked at her, "Use your best magic!"

He placed his palms in the signature position and summoned a seal beneath Ultear's feet just as she powered her lacrima once again.

"**Mag x100**", he declared, the same time she performed the move _flash forward_.

Instantly, a thousand orbs appeared out of nowhere, zooming towards the surrounding knights and incapacitating them.

"What -?", the woman balked, but she was forced along by Jellal, who took advantage of the wounded state of the knights to make a break for the shore.

The team practically rolled down the hill, the knights in hot pursuit as they did so. They had only just landed on even ground when - in the far distance - they spotted a petite, pink-haired girl running their way.

"Ultear!", she called out, waving her arms in despair.

"Meredy!", the addressed woman cried, "Why aren't you with the ship?" And it was then that they noticed the knights gathered in pursuit behind her.

"Cool. At this rate, we'd be sandwiched between the two sides", Samui casually observed, as if the prospect of capture didn't daunt her at all. They caught up with the young girl and made for the edges of the shore – in a perpendicular direction to the two forces. The sea was calm and steady, true, but its vastness made swimming across all but impossible.

"I'm sorry, Ultear", Meredy bawled, "I lost the ship…"

"So, this is the end of the line, yeah?", Deidera whistled, "Some rescue this is."

The time mage half-glared at him but quickly turned her attention to Jellal, "You can use your meteor ability to get away from here! Take Meredy with you!"

"Are you crazy?", the man gasped, "I'm not leaving you guys behind! Besides, I can't hold that ability for too long. I'd crash into the sea!"

They continued arguing back and forth, completely missing Naruto who had been busy drawing a semicircle around the group with his finger. The exact moment the soldiers reached them, he rose from his position, stomped his foot on the ground and formed a magic seal.

"**Toad magic: Summoning!**", he whispered.

The small group vanished from sight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was some two hours later, when a small toad surfaced from the water bed and hopped inland across a small marsh. Once it had spotted sufficient enough dry land, it stopped and croaked once, before swelling to unimaginable proportions and bursting to release its gut load.

"Gahh!", Meredy cried, tearing animatedly at her hair, "What the hell was that?"

Ultear simply knelt in stupor, much too shocked to move apart from the occasional twitch of her fingers. Her body shook with small tremors and she muttered continuously beneath her breath, "Stomach acid... digestive enzymes... toad... Stomach acid…"

Jellal smirked amusedly at them then turned towards the whiskered blond.

"That technique you used; toad magic", he began, genuinely curious, "It is one of the lost sage magics, isn't it? Tell me; are you acquainted with the legendary toad sage Jiraiya?"

Naruto nodded, "Yes. If you have heard of him, then you would understand why I am so adamant on locating him."

"He's the friend of yours that went missing", Jellal realized.

The blond man sighed in confirmation, "Teacher, actually. The pervy sage vanished mysteriously not too long ago. He was supposedly heading towards Fiore when this happened. However, I have reason to believe that he might still be alive."

Jellal pondered this carefully. For Naruto to have gone through such lengths in order to simply gather information to aid him in his search, Jiraiya must have probably meant a lot to him. That, or the blond was just bat-shit insane.

Either way, Jellal could tell he was speaking the truth. He decided to concede, if nothing else but to honor his word. "I will help you in any way I can, as per our agreement – but you must understand why I find discussions on the topic of Zeref to be very sensitive."

"_Sensitive indeed_ - considering you risked a steady job on the council, your title as a wizard saint, and the life of the woman you loved in order to resurrect some stupid mage."

Both men turned to gape at Kyo.

"Sorry", the black-haired mage muttered, scratching boredly at his chin, "but word does get around."

Jellal stuttered, choking a bit on his saliva, but then he composed himself and returned his gaze to the toad sage, "I started the tower of heaven project ten years ago, taking over the abandoned work of a dark guild known then as the cult of Zeref…"

It was difficult talking about the tower, especially considering that the whole ordeal was the most vivid portion of his memories, and the part of all his actions that shamed him the most.

"Wait, ten years ago?", Naruto interrupted, "What were you back then? Like thirteen?"

"I was eleven", Jellal deadpanned.

"_Right_", Naruto drawled, rolling his eyes, "Carry on, Einstein."

The genius mage frowned at the nickname but ploughed on anyway, "The tower is known as the Resurrection system, and is - in reality - a giant structure of crystal lacrima. It allows for the restoration of a deceased person at the equivalent cost of someone else's life. However, there are two requirements for its activation; a human sacrifice that has magic power equal or close to that of a wizard saint, and a power source of approximately two point seven billion Edeas."

"Two point seven billion?"

"Yeah. No single mage can produce that sort of magic power – in fact, the only source of such magic power on Earthland is the _satellite square: etherion_ owned by the magic council."

Naruto scratched his chin in thought, "So, after you've met these two requirements?"

Jellal shrugged, racking his brain to remember the specifics, "The sacrifice is fused with the charged lacrima and the body is then broken down and reconstructed to form that of the person you wish to revive."

Kyo let out a low whistle, "That's some pretty bad _mojo_."

Naruto fixed the former wizard saint with a black look, one that made Jellal feel ashamed of his actions all over again, "What prevented you from going ahead with your plans?"

"_Fairy tail_", he responded with, despite himself, a smile, "I had already captured my sacrifice and convinced the magic council to fire the etherion, but Natsu - _Natsu Dragneel_ stopped me."

Naruto's black look didn't waver, "And what happened to the tower?"

Jellal faltered. This part of his memories was always sketchy at best. "I-it… it was destroyed in our battle. I fused with the lacrima, I think, and redirected the unstable magic power skywards before the tower could crumble completely."

Uzumaki seemed satisfied with his answer because he visibly relaxed, but it seemed there were other questions still running through his mind, "Was it just the one that the cult created?"

"No", Jellal frowned thoughtfully, raising a hand to the blue ruff of his beard, "Now that I remember, the cult of Zeref created eight R-systems and seven of them were destroyed by the Council. The eight one was just beyond the coast of Caelum kingdom, south of Fiore; and that was where I was enslaved."

Naruto perked up, "Is there any possibility that there were more, or maybe, that any other persons created an R-system?"

Jellal stopped short at that one, "I… don't think so. I had the resources of the Council so I kept a pretty sharp eye about. Besides, even if someone out there created another tower of heaven, they'd have no way of powering it."

Naruto didn't see the logic in that, "You found a way to power yours, right? And I don't want to believe that the cult would spend a large amount of money on such a project in the first place - if they didn't have alternate means of utilizing it."

And it was then that the blunette decided that Naruto was actually far smarter than he seemed, even if the trait remained largely concealed behind his daredevilry and constant foolhardiness.

"I have... I have no idea", he finally conceded.

Naruto nodded again, seemingly content with what he'd gathered, "Thank you. If I were a mage requiring two point seven billion Edeas, I'd have no idea where to go either."

"You're welcome", Jellal smiled tiredly, "but I guess I owe you some thanks too."

"Hey", Meredy suddenly piped, interrupting their blooming bromance, "Has anyone seen that other guy, you know; the one with the locks?" – and it was true, they realized; looking around the small clearing, Deidera was nowhere to be found.

"Well, that's what you get for helping dangerous criminals – no offence there, Jellal", Kyo noted, "We free him from prison and he bails on us the first chance he gets."

"He couldn't have gotten very far, right?", he eventually asked his leader, "I mean, this is still treacherous territory. Hangman's Isle is the closest port to Yoshino, even more so than Hargeon, so they are bound to start looking for us here."

"I told you he was a pig", Samui spoke indifferently, "There's a good reason he has been locked up for so long."

However, Naruto didn't seem to be bothered by the sudden disappearance of their prisoner friend. Instead, he retained his attention on Jellal, a confused expression making its way on his face.

"I hope you don't mind my asking", he finally muttered, "but what exactly motivated you to start the tower of heaven project? From what I've seen of you so far, you don't exactly do your reports justice – except maybe you're some closet lunatic or that kind of stuff…"

Jellal felt an uneasiness pool in the pit of his stomach. He had been hoping this topic wouldn't be breached but it seemed Naruto was far too inquisitive for his own good. _How the hell do you admit to someone the true reason behind the undertaking of possibly the darkest, most-inhumane scheme to everbe conceived in all of Fiore?_

"Uh… I don't really remember…?", he tried skirting around the matter, but Naruto trained his sharp gaze on him until he eventually succumbed.

"You might not believe this", he murmured lowly, feeling his chest constrict painfully as he did so, "but I was actually possessed by the spirit of Zeref himself."

That got everyone in the clearing to freeze.

"Zeref's spirit?", Samui repeated skeptically.

"It's the truth!", Jellal argued, feeling unreasonably defensive, "It was Zeref who approached me and gave me the power I now possess. He's the one who convinced me to complete the R-system and revive him!"

Naruto adopted a sour look at his words but it was Ultear who stepped forward for the first time since they'd begun the discussion.

"There's something I have to tell you, Jellal."

"_Ultear..._", Meredy whined.

The long-haired brunette crossed her arms around her mid-riff, but she kept her chin tilted up defiantly, "I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner, but it is the real reason why I wanted to break you out of The Black in the first place."

Jellal stared at her warily, a sudden sense of unease niggling at the back of his head.

"There was no Zeref. That night, when you were chained in the torture room, it was I who approached you."

"What are you _talking_ about?"

"I am saying, Jellal", Ultear continued, looking him in the eye, "that I am the one you know as Zeref. I used possession magic on you, under the orders of Master Hades."

Jellal's face twisted hideously, "That's impossible! I know what I saw. I faced Zeref! He's the one who gave me power!"

Ultear frowned at him, "No one gave you power. It was already within you. I simply unlocked it using my second origin technique."

_**What?**_

"She's telling the truth!", Meredy interjected, "The real Zeref is still out there! You were only one of the keys to restoring his former self!"

"The _real_ Zeref?", Naruto seemed to awaken from thought, but Jellal was having none of it.

"Get away from me, the both of you! I will listen to no more of your lies!", he spat.

"**Sensory link!**", Meredy began, but she was stopped by Ultear who draped a hand across her wrist.

"No", the brunette intervened, "He needs to come to terms with this, himself. He spent his whole life under the belief that he was serving a demon. To be fooled like that... he has no right to forgive me."

"Wait a second, Jellal". Samui stepped beside Naruto, a pensive look on her face. Her blue eyes glowed. "These two are telling the truth. The both of them are former members of Grimoire Heart, and they abandoned the guild a year ago, during an encounter with Zeref on Tenrou Island."

Jellal stumbled in shock; grief and confusion written all over his features.

"How do you know this?", Ultear asked, appalled.

Samui met her gaze piercingly, "My Mind eye magic sees through all. There's nothing you can hide from me."

"Tenrou Island", Jellal choked harshly, his face turning almost as blue as his hair. _But, that's where_ _Erza_...! "What did you people do to them?!"

"We didn't destroy Fairy tail, Jellal", Ultear sighed, "Grimoire Heart did battle with them but we didn't manage to kill anyone from that guild. The real cause of their deaths was _Acnologia_ – summoned by Zeref himself. He's the one who vaporized Tenrou Island."

Naruto already knew this from the information he'd received from his old mentor's spies – well, minus the Zeref part, of course. Acnologia - the black dragon of apocalypse, had wreaked havoc on the sanctuary of what could possibly have been Fiore's strongest guild, and had taken half of its mages with it. It was a tale for the ballads that was for sure - half of Fiore would definitely doubt its credibility - but it was true.

"We should leave", Naruto declared, turning to face his subordinates, "Our work here is done. We've gathered the information we need."

"B-but we still don't know exactly what Jiraiya-sama was searching for", Kyo groaned, "If Zeref lives, then why would he keep notes on the R-system? Wouldn't he have been trying to locate him instead?"

"Maybe he didn't know", Samui mumbled, "We are only finding out about it now, after all. The Council must have kept it under strict wraps in order to prevent a mass outbreak of panic. The real question is – what do we do now, Naruto-sama?"

However, the blond had stopped abruptly and was now staring at something lodged in the pocket of his shorts.

Kyo was the first to realize what. "Woah, boss, I think the book is glowing!"

Samui gasped in shock. _The_ _book_ was a magical item used by Naruto and Jiraiya to exchange messages whenever they were apart. Naruto had always gazed forlornly at its pages in the hope that Jiraiya would contact him someday - and now it was glowing!

"Well, read it", Samui urged, "What does it say?!"

Naruto lifted the orange colored book with shaky fingers - as if it would vanish any moment if he gripped it too hard - and turned delicately to the most recent page.

_Brat, it's me. I've discovered something very important. Meet me alone at the coordinates I would send in the next hour. Erase it once you're done._

The end. That was it. That was all Jiraiya had written him, after months of terminating communication with everyone and the toads.

"Well?", Samui pestered impatiently.

Naruto schooled his features to neutral, "It's nothing - False alarm."

"_False alarm?_", Samui echoed coolly, "Who else uses _the book_ apart from you two?"

"I said it's a false alarm!", Naruto spat.

The wind changed. Naruto never raised his voice at Samui. Not once. Not ever.

"What's going on, Naruto-sama?", Samui approached him worriedly. The blond shrugged her fingers off and turned away.

"The mission is over", he ordered, "I want the both of you to return to your previous duties and to maintain as low a profile as possible. I would contact you should anything come up."

"Dammit, Naruto!", Kyo growled, "What the fuck are you hiding?" – but the blond had already hopped away from the clearing, his eyes looking much more alive than they'd seen it in recent months.

Samui and Kyo gazed at his retreating back, the first rays of dawn already spilling over the small clearing. Behind them, a fatigued Jellal fell to his knees, shedding the first of many a tear with Ultear and Meredy.

It had been a long night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_**Brat, it's me…**_

The train ride to Era wasn't exactly eventful. For most of the journey, Naruto leaned against the window next to him, staring silently at the scenery flashing by. There were numerous questions running through his head; all of which could not be answered readily.

The pervy sage wanted him to come meet him, and it had to be in Era of all places.

_Era. _

Naruto had never set foot in the city before; very little brought him towards the mountainous region that had once housed the headquarters of the magic council, despite his extensive travels with his teacher.

That was not to say he wasn't acquainted with the landscape however. Jiraiya had constantly drilled geography into his noggin whenever he could, and although Naruto hadn't appreciated it at the time, he now found himself subconsciously reciting the various facts he had picked up about the place.

For one, he knew that Era was fairly large, with a population of about three hundred thousand strong. The city was roughly circular in shape, ringed by a bunch of high-rising, snow-peaked mountains that were certain to make for an awesome morning view. He could recall that there were a few prominent landmarks in the area too. For example, the large rock in the heart of the city – upon which a now defunct version of the council headquarters stood; and the humongous Cathedral of saints – the biggest in all of Fiore. It was one of these that would be his destination today.

Slipping quietly out of the train station, he mingled with the crowd and deftly weaved his way past troops of rune knights stationed all over the area. Now that he was here, Era was definitely looking nothing like he'd expected. Everything was pristine, quaint and peaceful - most surprising for a city of its nature. The architectural design couldn't match the likes of say, Crocus, but it had its own signature to it, and Naruto could slightly envy the lives of the people who lived here. However, the headquarters (or former, to be precise) of the magic council stuck out like a sore thumb, and that was a sight Naruto could not appreciate waking to see every morning.

It took him a while to arrive at the famed Cathedral of saints - at least, longer than it should have due to his decision to observe more of the city for himself.

An impressive structure almost rivaling the size of the mountainous rock alone, the cathedral towered over most of the city, dazzling the landscape with its temple-like hexastyle design; composed of massive peripteral Ionic columns, and a gabled prop-and-lintel roof. A heavy curtain was draped from top to bottom, in between the two centermost columns, heralding the position of the main entrance. Upon the curtain was the signature symbol of the Council (an ankh), along with a runic inscription depicting the motto of the Wizard saints;

**To protect. To endure. To uphold. All that is right and holy**_**.**_

Naruto chuckled. _**Yeah, right.**_

The cathedral was closed off today, as it was non-visiting hours, but it only made Naruto's job easier. Sneaking past the gate guards was no problem and soon, he was safely across the courtyard, trekking through the mosaic floors that constituted the porticoes and inner structure of the cathedral.

_Meet me at the cathedral in Era by noon on the third day._

The atmosphere in the building was stifling. However, if the outer design of the structure was an artistic mastery, the sanctum was even more superbly dedicated. Sprawling randomly across the _naos_; casting long shadows over every corner, were larger than life statues (about eleven meters tall) of the wizard saints past and present.

Their faces glinted fiercely in the evening light, and their glazed-over stone eyes seemed to glare down condescendingly on anyone who ventured below. For any other person, this would have been a humbling and perhaps overwhelming experience, but Naruto simply squealed with glee. Withdrawing a magic pen, he raced along the length of the room; proceeding to leave his signature on every single one of the stately sculptures - until he arrived at the feet of a familiar looking monument. Frowning, he craned his neck to take a better look at the statue of Jellal which had an arm extended to the heavens, much like the others around him.

"Sculpture doesn't do him justice", he noted with a grin, then promptly signed a big, scrawly one on its nose.

_Take the wall behind the third statue on the first arc to your left. There is a tunnel._

The statue turned out to be that of a fully armed Jura of the Iron rock, and Naruto gingerly stepped around it to come to face with the marbled wall behind. Giving a strong push, the wall stubbornly remained solid beneath his fingers and would have continued being so, had he not noticed the small insignia on a part of the wall. Deducing the puzzle, he was able to uncover the hatch that would slide a portion of the wall to one side.

"Finally", he grunted, unraveling the hidden entrance to the tunnel.

The hole opened up to reveal a long flight of stairs that descended into the basement. Naruto traversed this; shuddering as he noted the dankness of the air and the fact that none of the wall torches seemed to have been lit. Jura's stony eyes followed him all the way into the tunnel.

The stairs ended in a narrow passageway which eventually pated out to an immensely large cavern; illuminated only by the light of a single oil lamp, so that he couldn't immediately make out his surroundings.

Walking towards the centre of the room, he stopped short when he realized exactly what he had been staring at.

It was a structure, and it was massive.

A voice snorted. "You're on time, _brat_."

Naruto turned towards a corner of the wall where a large, white-haired man had materialized from the darkness. There were familiar red markings beneath his eyes, and a humorous grin stretched his lips.

"Jiraiya-sama", he acknowledged with a nod, "What's this?"

"Long time no see to you too", the elder sage grumbled comically before glancing at the far end of the cave his protégé was pointing to. Embedded on the wall was an extremely odd design, composed of a tall stack of numerous stalagmites. It branched out in random positions, at heights reaching even that of the roof. However, what caught the most attention were the three statues protruding out of it. They looked like long-haired adult males, fused to the structure at their respective mid-riffs. All three sets of eyes were blindfolded; their arms outstretched - as if reaching for an invisible friend.

"_This_ is what I called you here for", Jiraiya explained, "It's a sinister development I've been investigating for a while now but I can definitely tell you it is an R-system – made of black magic of the highest calibre."

"An R-system?"

"Yeah, strange, isn't it? I was captured by this cult not too long ago – long story, but I eventually escaped and was led here by my investigations. I have no idea what this is doing under the cathedral but I'm pretty sure I'll get answers once I've reviewed the data I've collected. Anyway, I will need your help destroying this evil, brat."

Naruto nodded in reply, turned on his heel, and then smashed his palm heavily into the other man's face. Jiraiya rocketed backwards, crashing against a nearby wall.

"_Dammit_, brat, what was that for?!"

"Don't make me laugh", Naruto growled coldly, magic power leaking from him, "You are not the pervy sage."

"What the hell -"

"_Just shut up, okay!_", Naruto roared, "Your gig is up!"

All was still for a while until a small, menacing chuckle filled the dark cavern. The elder sage picked himself off the ground, not even bothering to fix his busted nose or restore his hair to its original position.

"What gave me away?", he sneered darkly – however, the look on his face turned to one of confusion when he noticed Naruto hunching over in relief.

"Damn", Naruto sighed, "for a while there, I thought I actually got the _real_ Jiraiya."

"_What?_"

"I mean you're good and all", Naruto continued, looking somewhat relieved, "You got the mannerisms down to a T! And the voice, the handwriting, everything! I just had to be sure, you know? It was a win or lose situation. Punch you, and make the real Jiraiya _really_ mad, or _punch_ you, and unveil your treachery."

Pseudo-Jiraiya's eyes were so wide, Naruto was sure they would pop from the poor man's sockets. Eventually, that unfamiliar sneer returned again to the face he knew so well.

"I underestimated you", the doppelganger growled, "Somewhere in your heart – before you even got here, you _knew_ that something had happened to your mentor. I underestimated the accursed bonds between student and teacher."

Naruto shut his eyelids briefly, feeling a spark of rage begin to course through his veins. He'd feared this happening.

"You're right. I always knew, but I never wanted to believe it – at least not until now." He opened his eyes and they were steeled over, as cold as glass, "That magic you used now was a stage II transformation technique. Who are you?"

Pseudo-Jiraiya chuckled again.

"Who am I?", he parroted, his form shimmering right before Naruto's sight, "That is inconsequential, Naruto _Namikaze_. For now, I am no one. That is what you shall know me by."

Where Jiraiya once was, there stood an entirely different figure. The most distinctive feature of the newcomer was the orange swirly-patterned mask which hid his entire face, save for a single eyehole. And yet, for some reason Naruto couldn't fathom – despite displaying magical prowess earlier – this man; whoever he was, radiated absolutely no magical power.

Not a single ounce.

Naruto had never heard of such a feat among mages.

"You are a fool, Naruto", _No one_ continued emotionlessly. He slowly raised a black-gloved palm towards the blond, "You recognized a trap and yet walked headlong into it. You are indeed a student of that man. **Four trigram formation: Seal!**"

A great magic circle opened up directly beneath Naruto's feet and the blond watched idly as four great stone pillars rose from the ground. The pillars glowed brightly for a second before releasing a multitude of magic-enforced chains. However, the moment the chains made contact with him, Naruto burst into smoke, only to be replaced with a log of wood.

_No one_ stiffened. "I see... Substitution magic", he mused, "You couldn't have cast that just now..." He turned towards the entrance, "It seems that you are a decent mage, after all, Namikaze. However, you should have taken the chance to flee while you still held your life in hand."

Naruto didn't move, commending himself silently for thoughtfully activating his technique beforehand. The substitution technique was a dangerous magic ability that halved the user's magic power with every use. Naruto knew firsthand what would happen if he used it too irresponsibly.

He glared at his opponent, "Why Jiraiya?"

The masked man cocked his head, "Why what?"

"Don't mess with me!", Naruto spat, "What did you want with the pervy sage?! What did you do to him?"

"You should be more concerned about yourself, you know", the man hedged in a sing-song voice, "You wouldn't be leaving here alive."

"Then why did you lure me to this place? For what purpose?"

_No one_ shrugged indifferently, "My actions shouldn't be of any bother to you, little fool. What you should understand now is that I am building a new world -", a sudden shadow fell over his mask, "and you are going to help me with it."

"If this is about resurrecting Zeref," Naruto yawned, "then I'm sorry to tell you that he is already among the world of the living."

"Zeref, eh?", _No one's_ singular eyehole seemed to darken at the mention of the name, "I do not care about the worm… yet. However..."

He suddenly surged forward, shocking Naruto with his incredible speed.

The blond leapt away from the attack as quickly as he could, only to find out that he had been hedged when the ground began glowing beneath his feet.

_**Another trap?**_

"**Three trigram formation**", the masked man gestured with his palm, "**Seal!**"

Three stakes shot up from the ground and shackled the blond, pinning him in place.

Naruto growled in frustration. _Just how many traps had this guy rigged up?_ He struggled against the bindings only for his eyes to widen a second later when he noticed the magic energy drain out of him at an alarming rate.

_No one_ approached him casually.

"You won't be going anywhere soon, Namikaze", he said, raising a hand up to Naruto's face, "I'll be taking this now -"

A powerful burst of magic energy exploded throughout the cavern. Naruto roared as a geyser of blue magic erupted from his form, forcing the stakes to fall away and disintegrate into dust. The cave shook with the tremendous power as he was freed, and he leveled his now white-eyed gaze at his assailant; a terrific look on his face.

"You broke the seal with just your _mahou_", _No one_ mused absently, having been forced to leap backwards to avoid the surge of magic, "However, if this is the limit of your power, you are incredibly pitiable -", but Naruto was already on the move.

Taking a deep breath, the toad sage swelled his chest to tremendous proportions and expelled a stream of immensely hot fire.

"**Toad magic: Oil flame bomb!**"

The flames were so dense, they appeared a scalding white to the distant eye, and Naruto kept up the blaze until a good half of the room was covered in it. The walls and earth were smelted, and fiery sparks rose into the air. However, he was shocked when, right before his very eyes, a fist manifested from within the flames, landing a solid hit on his jaw!

Dropping deftly on his feet, he ducked beneath the corresponding overhead kick, and placed both palms on the ground, muttering the word _swamp_.

The ground beneath his attacker immediately turned to a raging whirlpool of mud, but no sooner had the masked man vanished within the torrents that he appeared out of the ground once again – unscathed, latching a hand unto Naruto's wrist.

"That would do now", he stated, and Naruto felt a strange sensation; a tugging feeling that emanated from the man's eyehole, distorting his perception of the world around him until everything blurred into a single color.

He had already lost all feeling in his limbs when, with a brilliant flash of green light, pain rippled through his form and something pulled him forcefully back to reality.

"Gah!", he gasped, tumbling heavily to the floor, and panting noisily for a few moments, before rolling over and patting himself down to confirm he was still alive.

The masked man stared at him, a vague look of interest in his mien.

"You are an interesting one", he decided, watching as Naruto stopped his comic actions long enough to pull himself to his feet. From the blond's neck, a gem of green stone slipped and shattered against the ground. Naruto gaped at it in shock.

_That had belonged to his mother!_

"I see…", _No one_ mused, "So, it wasn't any talent of yours, after all. It was just a protection charm. A very potent one, but still just a protection charm. It wouldn't work twice, Naruto."

However, by this time, Naruto was already beyond the point of reasoning. This man - _this masked bastard_ - had taken his mentor, insulted his honor as a mage, and had now destroyed the last connection he'd ever had to his earthly mother. The blond couldn't help seeing red.

"You _**bastard**_", he spat coldly, "I'll kill you."

The man cocked his head, grossly unbothered by the threat.

Naruto took a step forward; every single cell in his body itching to let loose and rip the man to shreds… and that was when he realized.

This was what the bastard wanted. This was _his_ plan. He was baiting him.

He groaned in realization. Of course, the man would bait him. It would be stupid to do otherwise. All of his earlier attacks had simply phased through his opponent, leaving the man unscathed each time. Then there was also the other strange magic the man possessed. If the masked man so much as caught a hold of him, Naruto knew that this battle would come to an end.

_Dammit, it almost seemed like he was neglecting something too_, Naruto growled, reviewing the details of the battle over in his head. It was like the masked man was angering him on purpose, drawing Naruto's attention away from everything else. Everything except…

His eyes fell on the almost literal elephant in the room.

"**Sage magic...!**"

"Haven't you learned anything?", _No one_ asked narrowly, "Magic has no effect on me."

**"... Abyss break!**"

If _No one's_ eyes had been visible, Naruto would have noticed them widen alarmingly. Abyss break was a potent spell - one of the most powerful that ever existed. It was the grand magic technique that could only be used by mages who had mastered all four types of elemental magic. If used here, there was a very strong likelihood that it would bring the entire cathedral over both their heads.

_(Of course_, it might also do you some good to know that Naruto hadn't exactly mastered all four elemental forms yet, but no one - pun intended - needed to know about that.)

The masked man responded swiftly, confirming Naruto's suspicions of his original plan. The wraith-like enigma leapt for Naruto's throat, just as he finished inscribing the seal on plain air. However, the moment _No one's_ fingers closed around his neck, the blond burst into a wave of smoke, another log of wood replacing him.

_Well, he really didn't have a choice…_

The deed had been done. The masked man looked on forlornly as the golden magic circles of _Abyss break_ blared to life… only for the seal to explode like a flash bang; the words '**YOU SUCK!'** displayed in mid-air.

_No one_ blinked. He certainly hadn't expected _that_. A mirthless chuckle made its way past his lips as he studied the rapidly fading magic seal. The four circles representing the symbols of _abyss break_ were visible, but only three of them had been filled – that of fire, water and earth.

"I underestimated you after all, Naruto", he scoffed nonchalantly, turning to discern the location of the blond. He was unsurprised to find Naruto perched upon the demonic statue, a concentrated amount of magic energy in his palm.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you", he warned.

Naruto's focus wavered a bit.

"That monolith is the epitome of black magic", _No one_ continued, spreading his arms nonchalantly, "Even if you somehow managed to destroy it, you'd expel more than a considerable amount of magic power in the process. Think about what that could mean for you… For the entire city…"

Naruto frowned, his arm still throbbing with _mahou_. He wouldn't dare to put innocents in harm's way, at least, most of the time; however, he was now sure that his earlier assumptions were true beyond all doubt.

"_You_", he spat, "You could have faced me anywhere if you really wanted me dead. There have been numerous times this month alone I've been utterly defenseless, but you chose to summon me here instead. There's a reason, isn't there?", He smirked. "This…", he struggled to find the right word, "This filth… you are connected to it somehow. It is why I couldn't sense any magical energy _in_ you. _This_ is the source of your power."

The atmosphere in the cavern changed abruptly. When next the masked man spoke, his words were tinged with a venom that sent an uneasy feeling creeping up Naruto's spine.

"And what about your _teacher_, Namikaze? Do you not realize what has happened to him? What will become of your mentor when you foolishly destroy that monolith?"

Naruto lowered his fist in shock. _**Jiraiya was trapped within this?**_– But then his eyes steeled over and he raised his voice in defiance, "JUST SHUT UP, YOU BASTARD!"

The masked man rushed forward, about the same time Naruto brought his hand down upon the statue, a huge ball of concentrated magic power swirling in his palm. The **rasengan** crashed against the monolith with a loud screech, and for a while, the black structure actually seemed to resist it.

"_BASTARD!_"

Naruto pumped more magic into the ball and it expanded alarmingly, engulfing the cave in its bright light. The light seemed to increase in intensity until – just when _No one_ was within reach of him – the evil structure finally gave out; a tremendous explosion, and the cathedral was brought down over their heads.

"Naruto Namikaze", _No one_ muttered from his safe perch atop a ledge, looking upon the wanton destruction that had just occurred. Over half of the grand cathedral had caved in, causing a majority of the _naos_-level statues to crash down to the caverns below. A single, decapitated head protruded from the debris, that of the stony glare of a spiky-haired man with angular eyes and the remnants of a high collared cloak.

The masked man glanced at it, even as his form turned wispy, a hint of red showing in his singular eye-hole.

"..."

He faded into the breeze.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Org sighed tiredly, feeling the beginnings of a migraine letting on. This had been the most hectic week so far in the magic council's history - what with the breaching of the maximum prison facility on Yoshino, and the destruction of the famed Cathedral of saints. It was even more hectic than the _Etherion_ incident (and that was saying a lot), which had resulted in the disbandment of all but one of the members of the former council, and the condemnation of another two.

Looking up at the viewing lacrima, the age-weary mage silently scrutinized the now conscious young man depicted on it. He had to admit; the boy was incredibly foolish - or maybe, much too confident in his own prowess to be deemed sensible. It was one thing to attack the most secure facility in all of Fiore, but to pull off what he just did within the span of two days – and in Era of all places – Org found himself wondering if maybe the boy didn't already have a death wish.

"Councilmen, please be quiet", he pleaded, once he noticed it was past time the meeting began. His colleagues grumpily fell into order, adjusting themselves on their respective seats.

"It seems that the fates have deemed it right for us to gather here once again", Org started, already feeling the tension palpable in the room, "On the issue of one Naruto Uzumaki."

"I don't see why we waste our time", Tao; an aged councilor who was almost always blind-folded (for reasons best known to him) uttered, "Uzumaki Naruto has been identified as the same one who led the attack on _The Black_, and freed the convicts Jellal and Deidera."

"But why would he do so?", the lone woman in their midst, asked.

"Bah! Who cares?", Gronkjaer roared, banging his fist on the table, "If we had to inquire of every criminal in Fiore, the motives behind their actions, then we'd be having a full queue awaiting trial by now!"

"Still, his motives are rather glaring, aren't they?", yet another member of the council concluded, "Wasn't he found with the remnants of an R-system back in Era?"

"Maybe that's what he needed Jellal for...", someone else mused.

"But Zeref lives", the woman reminded, "Surely a wizard of his caliber would have found out about this despite how much we've managed to _contain_ the Tenrou incident?"

"And what about the prison in Yoshino?", Mizgurck; a bespectacled man who rarely ever spoke, inquired, "Since it was so easily broken in, shouldn't we be thinking of reinforcing its defenses, lest another incidence like this one occurs?"

"We've already assigned scribes to do that, Mizgurck. In fact, the riot is already being calmed as we speak", Org replied him.

"There are also the cells here in our headquarters...", Tao suggested.

"But those are for temporary confinement only!", Gronkjaer barked, "Or at the very least, for the criminals we keep on trial! We cannot hold the bulk of the world's vermin here! It would be both impractical and foolish!"

"_Why have we diverged from the matter at hand?_"

Org held back a sigh. That last statement had been made by his least favorite member on the council – a man he deemed even worse than Gronkjaer.

"What do you mean, Stormcrow?"

Bocholt Stormcrow; a wild, strong-jawed mage with a patch over one eye and unruly, black hair, sneered, showing off his prominent canines, "We should be thinking of the adequate punishment that would be suitable for this rogue. We have to use him to set a warning – a deterrent, if you may – to any other out there like him."

"What do you _mean_?"

Stormcrow leaned back on his chair, his lone eye looking every bit as fearsome as his teeth, "You know very well what I am talking about, Org. I propose the ultimate punishment."

A hush fell over the council.

"We can't decide on such things!", Org gasped, scandalized, "At least, not without a trial!"

"But what use would it be?", Gronkjaer followed, "We already have enough proof!"

"That is not the way things are be done!", Org floundered, "We – we have policies to abide by! Rules to follow! Anything other than that would be inhumane!"

"Do you call humane freeing a renowned mass murderer, and attempting a ritual that could have possibly destroyed the entirety of Era?"

"Jellal might have been tagged the mass murderer", Org growled, "But it was our decision to fire the _Etherion_ cannon that created the tidal wave that claimed hundreds of lives – a decision just like the one you proposed!"

A second silence fell over the gathering.

"Well, what do we know about this man?", Fiorelio; a spindly fellow in a white garb, raised.

"Hm, Uzumaki Naruto", Tao answered for all, "Son of the late Namikaze Minato and his wife; Kushina. Student and godson of the legendary vagrant mage Jiraiya. No visible guild marks on his body. He has also denied affiliation with any known terrorist groups. Sadly, that is about all we have on him at the moment. He's been off radar for years, scouring the whole of Earthland with his teacher."

Someone made a choking noise, "He is related to two of the Wizard Saints and yet turned out this way? That's impossible,"

"Haven't you learned", a new voice resounded through the depths of the chamber, "Nothing is impossible under the sun."

"Gran Doma!", several of the councilors gasped.

The chairman stepped from within the shadows, his wizard's hat pulled over his face and a majestic cloak draped around his form.

"I have been away on a sojourn", he began in a grizzly voice which matched his look, "And I come back to find _what_? The sacred cathedral that our predecessors built has been destroyed, and...", He looked each of them in the eye, "A prisoner placed on death row has escaped."

"Welcome back, Chairman-sama", Org bowed.

"I do not need your welcoming!", Gran Doma spat, and his snake staff rattled visibly at his tone, "What trouble brews in my house this evening?"

"We have the culprit, Doma-sama", Tao informed him, "This man; this Naruto, is the one who destroyed the defenses of Yoshino, and the same one who attempted to activate an R-system right beneath our very noses!"

Gran Doma peered at the lacrima on which the prisoner was displayed. His bearded face betrayed no emotions.

"I see… then so be it; a life for a life it shall be. Since he has seen it fit to free the prisoner Jellal from incarceration, it is only right that he take his place in the upcoming execution."

"Chairman...!", Org began, but he was instantly quelled once again by the glare of the powerful mage, "Have you forgotten your role within this court, Org? You are the only mage of the former council still seated; not because of your superiority in wisdom or magic ability, but simply because of the fact that _change_ should not signify a complete turnaround of things. There are old values that should be retained. However -", He turned once more to the giant lacrima, "there are new ones too that should be established. I would not have you besmirching my authority on this house."

"As you wish, Lord Chairman", Org conceded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you awake, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto raised a tired eyebrow, his gaze falling on the young amphibian that peered at him from across his cell.

"Yeah, I'm good. What's up, Rafael?"

He wasn't feeling too good at the moment though. It was chilly in his cell – dressed as he was in only his pants and bindings – and Naruto couldn't remember the last time he'd breathed anything but recycled air.

The anthropomorphic frog fidgeted visibly, almost falling off his hover-seat.

"The Council is deciding your fate right now, Naruto-sama. Things are not looking good."

The blond grinned, "Oh?"

Ever since the council's mutated scribes had found out that he had been a student of Jiraiya (a famed friend of toads), things had turned out moderately better for the blond. He was being treated fairly well, and he never suffered so much as a lack of company in his small, solitary cell, however...

"What the hell do you think you are doing; talking to that man?!"

There were those idiots that would still remain rather magnificent pains in the asses.

"N-Nadal-sama!", the young Rafael stuttered.

"I told you to stop speaking to him!", his captain barked in reply, arriving in his own hovercraft.

(You might probably remember Nadal. He is the rather outstanding bullfrog who made Jellal's incarceration here a living hell during Fairy tail's battle on Tenrou Island).

"Back again?", Naruto smirked.

Nadal glared suspiciously at him, "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing", Naruto shrugged, "I was just pondering which delicacy I'd like to try first when I get out of here. I think I'm in a mood for frog legs at the moment."

The two frogmen paled considerably at the pointless jab, but Nadal was quick to recover his bearing. Leering at the blond, he hovered forward and poked his stave through the magic absorbing stone. "Too bad that day would never come, fool. As of now we speak, orders are already being issued to carry out your execution. Those _frog legs_ might just be the last thought you'd ever have in your life, you miserable piece of -"

"That's enough."

"Ah! The noble Chairman! Gran Doma-sama!", Nadal squeaked, bowing in respect upon his small craft.

Naruto squinted through the magic stone to observe the newcomer below. He was a tall, impressive mage, with a great, grayish beard and a scar over one eye. His strong arms were coated in fitting, steel gauntlets and he donned a wizard's hat over his head – however, Naruto's eyes were drawn only to the golden snake staff held in his hand which glinted even in the poor light.

He shivered involuntarily. The snakes would always devour the toads.

"Leave us", Gran Doma gestured, and the frogmen promptly disappeared, leaving Naruto alone once again in his floating cell. With another gesture, the prison lowered steadily till he was at face level with what could possibly be the most powerful man in all of Fiore – with the exception of the King, of course.

"You've gotten yourself into quite the situation", the Chairman began, once the blond was within eye-level of him, "Naruto Namikaze."

"Uzumaki", Naruto corrected automatically, and then frowned, "I guess". Even as he stared at his visitor, he could feel an uneasy sensation begin slithering up his spine. He averted his gaze.

"You guess?", Gran Doma murmured. If he'd noticed Naruto's action, he didn't comment on it. "It seems you do not yet understand the gravity of your situation, boy. The council has reached a decision, and it is a very grave one."

"I see", Naruto hummed, "So, what do you want?"

"It's not about what I want but what you need", Doma replied gruffly, "You've been unresponsive to our interrogation methods thus far… Uzumaki, but I am sure that you are starting to realize your need of a concession."

That was a big word. "_A concession?_"

The aged chairman smirked, "I want a written list of the names and profiles of all your accomplices, including any superiors you might have and the dark guild you serve. I also want to know the current whereabouts of the criminals; Jellal Fernandes, Ultear Milkovitch and Deidera -"

Naruto turned anxious, "Err... I'm not exactly sure where they are right now."

"In exchange for all this", Gran Doma ploughed on, "and your sworn allegiance to forever serve the Council, I can assure you that your _penance_ will become substantially lighter."

Naruto fell into thought - but just as quickly as he did, he scowled; fixing steely blue eyes on the magic chairman.

"That can't be all, can it?"

Gran Doma remained stoic, "No, it is not, Uzumaki. I also want to know _everything_ about the matter in Era."

The blond raised an eyebrow at that one. The Council had simply surmised the entire incident to be a magic ritual gone wrong. In what he'd gathered of their official report, they had simply stated that the apprehended culprit (being himself) had been foiled in his attempt to activate an R-system in his hideout beneath the Eran cathedral. They were only happy that they had managed to catch the mastermind behind one of the biggest break-ins in Fiore's history - and two days after the event no less. For the Chairman to be asking about it now...

"You know that the black structure wasn't a system needed for the restoration of Zeref?", he asked testily.

"I know only what I am told", Gran Doma hedged. "Black magic of that kind hasn't been seen in ages - at least, not from wizards of your caliber. Speak now."

Naruto faltered. He could tell the Chairman about Jiraiya's disappearance, the masked man, everything. He could tell him about the real reason he'd needed Jellal – the cause of his break-in into Yoshino. He could also tell him the secret behind his preference of miso to beef ramen - just to get it all on paper, at least – but… he wouldn't. They would find out about Jiraiya's death someday (and his preference of ramen), and he needed to be able to avenge his mentor without attracting anyny outside interference.

_Besides_, he calmly reasoned, even if the chairman believed his story of being conveniently attacked by some wraith under their cherished cathedral, heads still needed to fly. The council wouldn't rest until someone paid for recent occurrences - and it simply had to be him.

So, he adopted his patented oblivious grin (the one which always succeeded in ticking Jiraiya off) and chuckled, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

That day, he certified his death warrant.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(Four days later…)

There was a rather prominent foreboding over the large city of Era today. The usual business hub existed as always – along with the presence of civilians undergoing their daily activities; however, one could still easily tell that there was a very subdued mood to all of it.

Shops closed early, businesses ended abruptly, and the children were rushed home from school. The city bells had been rung. In exactly two hours time, the twenty-second public magic-execution to ever happen in Era (and Fiore as a whole) was set to occur.

Of course, Naruto Uzumaki wasn't tremendously bothered by any of it. He'd been visited by the interrogator multiple times in the last four days, and the sessions hadn't been particularly entertaining in his opinion (_I mean, who the heck invented that water torture stuff?_), however, today, he'd been given a meal fit for a king – and after days of having only water to drink, Naruto could almost laugh at the irony of it all.

_Like, seriously, who would have thought that food would be the best way to make a man regret his death?_

A priest had already stopped by earlier in the day, so all that was left was the rather horrid wait of what was to come. The blond lay back in his cell, looking past the transparent stone that constituted the material of his confinement. A thousand things kept running through his mind, but even those too ended the moment the execution squad arrived; not a second later than the appointed time. In the lead was a young knight-captain; a bespectacled man with dark shades and bushy hair that looked even more derelict than Naruto felt.

As he was escorted out of his solitary cell, Naruto tried to keep from dragging his tired feet. The interrogator had been even more ridiculous in his last session, but Naruto had held out – again – much to the ire of the magic chairman.

Through some unique magic, they were transported out from the dungeons and into the basement of the faux headquarters the council maintained in Era. The cuffs of magic absorbing stone dug deep into Naruto's wrists, even as he was led out onto a platform protruding from the gigantic rock overlooking the city, and then forcibly shackled to his knees. A large crowd had gathered below.

The councilors had also taken their positions far behind him along with two other captains he couldn't recognize. A squad of rune knights surrounded the area. Facing the platform was to be the tool of his demise – a strange looking metal contraption manned by a hooded executioner with an ankhish on his chest.

A terse silence filled the air.

"Do you have any last requests?", Gran Doma spoke, coming around to look the blond fully in the eye.

"Last requests?", Naruto chuckled incredulously, "Nope. Don't think so."

A smattering of hushed whispers rode up from the crowd below.

"Very well; Prisoner Naruto Uzumaki", Gran Doma's magic-enhanced rang out through the city, "You are henceforth to be publicly executed for your crimes against humanity and crimes against the magic council, regarding your role in the escape of two S-class prisoners, and your attempted resurrection of the dark wizard; Zeref". He sneered distastefully, "I hope you have made your peace. This would not be easy."

When Naruto did not reply, the Chairman stepped away from the platform, signaling the grand executioner.

"Fire the _mini-etherion_."

A gasp arose from the crowd as the satellite square contraption rose to life and the trademark magic seals were formed. A few of the knights and townspeople turned away but Naruto's glare remained steadfast. He kept his gaze locked upon the machine as it lighted up - a signal that it was ready to fire - and didn't look away once. The magic power in the atmosphere built up to a crescendo, and just when the pressure threatened to implode his ears, the platform was bathed in a concentrated beam of potent white.

"**Reducio**!"

Naruto grinned, looking up at the figure that had materialized before him. The beam from the cannon had dimmed down some, but should it hit them, they were still both going to find themselves as fodder for worms.

"**Altairis!**"

_**Ah, that could solve the problem...**_

The two spells collided dreadfully, and a section of the platform along with the etherion cannon was blown off as a result. The on-lookers below scattered in fright, and the executioner wailed as he toppled off the mountain. Naruto seriously hoped someone caught him.

"You alright, boss?", Kyo turned, a slight grin on his face. Beside him stood Jellal, who looked somewhat tense as his gaze fell on the magic chairman.

Naruto didn't know what to say. He had expected his friends to try and rescue him (despite the manner in which he'd treated them the last time they'd been together), nevertheless, he hadn't expected them to actually succeed.

_And why the heck did they have to wait until the last possible second again?_

However, this was far too easy. There was no way the Council would allow anyone to obstruct an execution as easily as they'd just done.

"It's a trap!", he yelled out, even as a glyph barrier snapped up around them.

Jellal relaxed at once, seemingly expecting this, and made a quick sign to Kyo. He turned to Naruto's bonds and his eyebrows crinkled thoughtfully in his still bearded face.

"Magic absorbing stone", he muttered, "You'd have to keep this on until we get somewhere safe enough to remove them."

Naruto smirked at him, "Does the fact that we are trapped with nowhere to go seem to bother you at all?"

"Don't worry", Kyo grinned even harder, "Jellal already anticipated this. They have traps like this one set up all over the place. The only glitch however, is that although we can't escape from the inside, they can't attack us from the outside too. It's the ultimate defense."

"It's Jellal!", one of the captains; this one with a scar on his face, gasped. A cry like wildfire spread across the city.

"And they are only just realizing it now?", the ex-wizard saint grumbled.

The knight-captains made a move to advance but it was the Chairman who stepped forth first.

"Look around you", Gran Doma commanded, his voice radiating power, "You would find yourselves to be outnumbered and outmaneuvered. It was quite impressive what you did with the mini-etherion, but I suggest you lay down your arms now."

They ignored him.

"Can't they, like, dispel the barrier?", Naruto whispered.

"Yes, they can", Jellal muttered, "But they wouldn't dare, at least, not yet. It would leave us free to attack."

"It's a good thing we've got Jellal on our side", Kyo informed him, "When word reached us of the public execution, he realized immediately that it was a plan to lure all your accomplices out."

"We would have come earlier too", Jellal apologized, "but we only found out about your execution yesterday. I never expected the Council to take such a decision without even holding a trial fir…"

"Do you three understand me?", Gran Doma warned. A multitude of Jupiter cannons mounted all over the headquarters had now been directed at them, "If you do not surrender at my word…"

"Hey, wait a minute", Naruto looked around, "Where's Samui?"

Kyo simply pointed upwards, "You'll see."

As soon as he did so, a plethora of fine explosions rocked the execution platform. The portion containing the runic barrier broke away and headed in a free-fall for the ground. However, before it could fall any further, three great hooks fell from the sky, latching onto the base and holding the slab of concrete wherein the three men stood above ground.

"Un. You alright, over there?", someone called.

"Dragon!", the knights cried in alarm.

Naruto glanced upwards to see what looked like three great clay (well, what do you know? The knights were right) dragons; a line of chain dangling from each of their respective bellies. He recognized Samui and Meredy riding astride atop two of them, but on the largest one, standing and grinning maniacally,

"Art is an explosion, un!"

"It was actually Deidera who notified us", Jellal confessed, "He located Samui, who only just managed to round the rest of us up yesterday."

_**Oh, Samui**_, Naruto shivered, _**She was so going to kill him.**_

Meanwhile, a councilor in knightly attire had begun barking orders at the soldiers who had managed to regain their footing.

"Shoot them down!", he yelled, "Don't let them get away!"

The Jupiter cannons were directed at the flyers, however, before any of them could be fired, the large cannons began quaking and then crumbled into dust.

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"She's overdoing it again", Jellal noted, as a good half of the newly rebuilt headquarters crumbled once more. "There's no way she's gonna escape with only a mild arrest warrant this time."

Somewhere in the distance, Naruto could have sworn he heard a woman's maniacal laughter.

"Is she going to be okay?", he asked.

"Yeah, it's Ultear", Jellal hissed, a dark look on his face, "She can get out of there on her own."

"Oh. Alright", Naruto sighed, resting his eyes, "I'm sad to hear you two haven't exactly gotten over your lover's spat yet."

Jellal sputtered something but Naruto ignored him, turning his gaze to the magic chairman who stood perfectly still despite the chaos happening all around. The Chairman could have made a move anytime he wanted – anytime at all. He could have summoned his magic. He could have simply dispelled the barrier. However, it seemed the Chairman was largely unbothered with the manner of the blonde's escape, for reason's best known to him.

The thought frightened Naruto.

Naruto kept his eyes locked on Gran Doma's face until they eventually disappeared into the horizon and he could see no more of it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The first thing Samui had done once they'd alighted in the cave was slap him across the cheek.

Hard.

Naruto clucked his tongue to check if she'd knocked a tooth loose, but gave up when she fixed her cold stare at him.

"_Why?_"

The sound came out like a mangled threat. Naruto knew the answer she was searching for. He understood exactly what she needed to know. She didn't care about his destruction of the cathedral, or his arrest by the council, or even his almost-execution. She only needed to know why he had decided to leave them out of the loop. Why he had felt the need to go it alone.

So, he told her everything – her, and Kyo and, unfortunately, Jellal too. The rest he kept out of earshot, but these people – at least, two of them anyway – they needed to know. He told them in rushed details about the trap, and the masked man; who was obviously the reason behind Jiraiya's disappearance. He mentioned the strange R-system, and their battle; and the fact that his opponent seemed to possess no magic power whatsoever.

Of course, he left out some things too. He still didn't understand what exactly had happened with his mother's necklace; or why the man had been so intent on capturing him… but the less they knew, the better for them, and he had told them the important details anyway.

"So… this man", Kyo murmured thoughtfully; his brown eyes looking serious, "This _No one_. He is unaffected by magic?"

"At least, conventional magic", Naruto nodded.

"And you couldn't manage to figure out his identity – or the reason he attacked you or Jiraiya?"

Naruto shook his head.

"Well, this is fucked up", Kyo sighed, letting out a low whistle. He began pacing restlessly around the cave.

Naruto shrugged, turning his attention to the blue-haired man in their midst. "So, I'm guessing we are truly even now, right?", he asked, smiling faintly.

Jellal smiled back, "I guess so."

Across the room, they watched Deidera flaunt his explosive art to an ecstatic Meredy.

"So, what are we going to do now, Naruto-sama?", Samui turned to him, the worry lines uncharacteristically evident on her face, "We can't exactly return to our normal lives anymore. Not after what happened today. Where do we go from here?"

"I… I…", Naruto began; faltering. A sudden sense of weariness overtook him and he slumped on a side of the cave, gripping his head in thought.

For months, he'd searched desperately for his anything on his missing teacher. _Anything_. He had now found out the circumstances surrounding Jiraiya's disappearance. Unfortunately, it also opened a can of new questions.

_Was Jiraiya truly dead, or was he simply being held captive somewhere? Who was this masked man? Where was his base of operations? Did he belong to any dark guild? Why was he so interested in the two toad sages? What could he possibly be hoping to achieve?_

Naruto smashed the side of his fist against the cave wall in frustration. He needed answers, true. There were so many variables he needed to determine, but for the moment, he was glad he now had an angle to work with. If Jiraiya was out there, then he would rescue him. Simple. There was nothing else to it.

But, Samui had been right._**What about now?**__**What do they do now?**__, _he pondered. They couldn't possibly keep roaming… not with a viable man-hunt on their heads. Caelum Kingdom was out of the question too. If he needed to locate the masked man, then he needed to do so here – he needed to remain in Fiore. He squashed the rogue tear before it slipped out of his eye. _That said, what could he even __**do**__?_ _What did he know how to do on his own?_

Ever since he was ten, Naruto had been scouring the world with his godfather, training to become a mage. Life with the white-haired hermit was all he'd ever known. He'd kept pushing forward all this time Jiraiya had been missing because he'd always believed he would eventually find the elder sage. For him to reach a dead-end now… to realize now that after everything he might never see Jiraiya again…

"Er, what did you say, Naruto-sama?", Kyo piped up, after hearing the sage mutter something.

Naruto kept his head low. "What would the pervy sage have wanted me to do?", he repeated, "In a situation like this, what would he have suggested?"

Samui and Kyo exchanged a wary glance.

"Well", the girl began uneasily, "Jiraiya-sama had let slip once or twice that he wanted you to join a guild once you were done with your training. He thought that relating with other people apart from the two of us might do some good for you."

_**Guild eh?**_, Naruto thought, turning the word over in his heard. The word sounded foreign to his tongue.

Truth be told, he had entertained the idea more than a few times in the past, however, the thought of a guild brought together foreign concepts like family, bonds, friendship and trials, and Naruto wasn't exactly sure he could undergo all of that with more than the two people he saw standing in front of him.

"But which legal guild will take wanted men?", he wondered aloud, "Unless you want us to go join a dark one?"

"Dark guild, huh?", Kyo smirked, "Well, it won't be the first time. I've been part of one before."

Naruto mulled over the option, "What about you, Jellal?"

The blunette shrugged, "I've already decided on my path. There was something that always bothered me during my imprisonment at The Black. I want to find out the true fate of the missing members of Fairy tail, and… I'm going to make sure that no-one will ever find the need to hunt Zeref again and use his powers for themselves."

"Hn", Naruto nodded, "So I guess, that just leaves me".

He walked to the entrance of the cave and watched as Ultear approached on another one of Deidera's clay dragons; riding on the crest of the setting sun. She waved heartily as she saw him, and he waved back, a smile playing on his face.

He had a plan.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

(Three days later...)

"What do you think the boss called us here for?", Kyo yawned, walking with Samui towards the meeting point earlier designated by their leader. Wisteria town was, well, exactly as Wisteria town should be; seeing as a few of the townspeople had already found their way to the beerhouses – despite it being only about eight in the morning.

"I don't know", Samui muttered, keeping the hood of her cloak low over her face. Behind her dragged a small box in which she had packed the most important of her meager possessions, which – knowing Samui – was probably a pile of books. Kyo hadn't bothered to pack at all. He'd simply stuffed his hands into his pants' pockets and set out, whistling a jaunty tune as they trekked down the streets.

Three days ago, their ragtag group of misfits had finally gone their separate ways. Jellal had started out on his self-imposed quest, and Ultear - in guilt - had volunteered to join him. The three of them (Meredy included) had travelled to the remains of Tenrou Island; via a council ship the lascivious brunette had stolen... or confiscated, in her words.

Naruto, meanwhile, had all but vanished, with a word to his two friends to meet him later at his preset coordinates. Kyo and Samui had no idea what their leader was up to this time, and they hadn't even bothered to protest. Neither of the two had much of a life left to return to, nor could they do so even if they did anyway. Whatever half-baked plan Naruto had cooked up, they would just have to go along with it like they always did.

They had just arrived at the small alley Naruto had described; in a rather remote part of town, when they ran into a face they hadn't exactly expected to see.

"Watch where you're going, un!", the newcomer yelped as he crashed into them.

Samui's eyes almost popped out her head in shock. "_What the hell are you doing here?!_", she screeched.

The former captain of the Detention corps didn't appear phased; instead he puffed on his bang and frowned at her.

"I can ask you the same thing too, sis."

Samui put two and two together. "Don't tell me", she hissed, "Naruto-sama invited you as well?!"

Deidera sniffed the air, "Well..."

"Well what?!", the girl snapped.

The blonde man raised an eyebrow, "You just said I shouldn't _tell_ you."

Before Samui could do something hideous to the man, like skewer him with the dagger she kept hidden up her sleeve, Kyo stepped in-between the two of them.

"Now, now", he began, acting like he was admonishing a pair of two year olds, "That's no way to say hello – especially not between brother and sister."

"He's _not_ my brother", Samui growled.

"Either way", Kyo yawned, waving her off disinterestedly, "We better go see what the boss wants. It's about the time he said we should meet."

They crossed the alley and emerged into the light, only to spot Naruto; who sighted them in turn, and began waving at them animatedly from across the avenue. He was dressed in a somewhat new get-up; maintaining his black shirt and orange knickers, with the usual wrist beads and clogs around his feet. The only thing that had changed was his cloak, which despite still being red, was now of a different design. It was longer than the last one had been, and sported elaborate fire motifs along the length of the sleeves and tail ends in a manner reminiscent to that of his father's.

Behind him and drawing the most attention, however, was a huge, awkward-looking building, two-stories tall. The building was an architectural nightmare; slanted and crooked at angles that would make one wonder how the hell the whole thing even managed to hold up. The walls were a bleached red, paneled, and seemed to have been made from a mixture of teak and hot baked clay. A stone chimney bellowed smoke from atop a dome-shaped roof which had two somewhat-horns protruding from both sides. The entire thing seemed to resemble a mushroom.

Samui was just about asking what the entity was when she found her vision obscured by a stray flyer.

"Huh?"

Detaching the piece of paper from her face, she squinted at the words which were written rather animatedly with childish crayons.

"_To-ad-stool gu-ild_", she mouthed, "Application form. New mages needed. Requirements: Mages must be... _po-wer-ful_?". She raised an eyebrow at their revered leader, a curious look on her face, "What is this?"

Naruto grinned ecstatically and clapped his palms, "Oh! That must be from some of the flyers I distributed today! I pasted it all over town!"

"Pasted what exactly?", Kyo inquired.

The blond's grin widened and he pointed to the building behind him – and it was then that they noticed the large signboard hammered on the top of the lone double doors.

"Toadstool?"

"Yeah", Naruto shrugged, "You said that the pervy sage had always wanted me to join a guild, right? So I ran through a list of available guilds, and couldn't find any that I would be willing to work with. Therefore, I took on a disguise, went to the Cabinet of Magic affairs and decided to register my own guild!"

"Oh okay", Kyo replied, nodding sagely. He then paused, "Wait... _What?!_"

"So, you mean to tell me that you formed your own guild, Naruto-sama?...", Samui began.

"... and erected that building in under three days?", Kyo completed.

The toad sage nodded, "Er... yeah, why?"

Samui pinched the bridge of her nose irritably, "I knew you were spontaneous, Naruto-sama, but I never figured you could actually go this far."

"What do you mean?"

The woman sighed, "Do you know exactly what you've done, Naruto? Did you even think for a moment what this could cause? Here we are, supposed to be maintaining a low profile, and here you are doing something as rash as creating a guild! We'd attract lots of trouble! We'd get hunted down by the Council and half of all the legal guilds! We'd never be able to sleep peacefully, and I'm pretty sure that some of us will get hurt in the process!"

Naruto seemed taken aback by her words, "So, you wouldn't join?"

"Of course, I'd join!", Samui spat, "If you can't even take two steps without stepping into a dung heap of trouble, I shudder to think what you'd do without us!", She then gave him a small smile, "Plus, I guess it would be pretty cool."

Kyo grinned too, coming around to stand next to them, "Being in a guild once again, huh? Yeah, I guess I can work with that. If nothing else, it should be hilarious watching you run it, boss."

"_Guys_...", Naruto sniffed, tearing up.

"What the hell did you think, boss?", Kyo gasped, feigning hurt, "You thought we were actually gonna abandon you? My heart – it's broken to pieces!"

Naruto grinned, turning to the last member of their small group. Deidera was standing some ways away, gazing into the morning sun.

"You're welcome to join, you know?", he offered, "It might not be anything like your former job but I'm sure it would keep you occupied."

The long-haired blond didn't seem entirely convinced.

"Besides", Naruto continued slyly, "You would get the opportunity to practice your skills… and earn steady cash which you'd need to in order purchase more of your art materials…"

That seemed to buy the ex-captain.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Count me in, un", he grunted, marching straight into the building, "Judging from what I've seen in the past week, this place is bound to be a riot, ha ha!"

Naruto smirked in return, moving aside as Kyo and a less ecstatic Samui also ventured forwards to explore building.

Taking a pause, he turned to gaze up at the sky.

Many guilds existed within the country but in one certain town, a new guild had been formed. A guild where legends haven't yet been born from but would soon be in the days to come.

That guild's name was Toadstool; and he could feel his teacher's presence watching over it.

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a/n: I have a feeling that the ending didn't turn out exactly as good as I hoped. I spent hours re-reading and re-editing it, and then finally just decided to upload the whole shebang as it was. This is the end of the two-shot pilot I had originally written for The Man Who Cried Saint, and I can tell you that, due to the positive reviews you guys sent in for the first chapter, I have every intention of continuing this story.

Big shout out to everyone who even bothered to review last time out. Sorry, I couldn't find the time to individually thank each one of you. To those who raised issues of interest, I hoped I responded to them in a sufficient enough manner that left you satisfied.

The Cathedral of Saints I created for this chapter was actually inspired by, you guessed right, the **Athena Parthenon**. It seems no one has deduced my inspiration for _the Black_ yet. I have an idea how I wanted Naruto's guild to look in my mind's eye, but I fear I still failed to describe it adequately enough to instill a perfect mental picture.

Next chapter, the story continues, along with the introduction of a few more Naruto characters. I think I might have to reduce the length in order to increase updating speed. Would team seven be in this? Doubtful. But I'd like to read a Naruto/Fairy tail crossover that has team seven as it's the main heroes someday.

Go to sleep after reading this, people, it's late in my part of the world.

Don't forget to review too!


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